China May Let Alibaba Buy New Nvidia Chips, The Information Says

The Chinese government has signaled it may allow companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd to purchase Nvidia Corp.’s new RTX Pro 5500 chips, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently asked some companies to report on their plans to purchase the high-end graphics processor chip, which was released this month, including how many of them and what they would use the product for, the report said, adding that the ministry told some of the firms it intends to approve the purchases.

Nvidia has faced export restrictions from the US as well as curbs from Beijing over the sale of its chips to China, due to a web of bilateral tensions ranging from security to competition on artificial intelligence.

Read More: Small Amount of Nvidia AI Chips Sold to China Via US License

The US administration recently lifted restrictions on some Nvidia chips, though the products tend to be older-generation chips that have been sold in small quantities.