China Is Asking Its Tech Giants To Ditch Nvidia Chips And Buy Local Instead: Report

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty ImagesChina wants its chip hungry tech giants to buy local, per The Information. Companies like Alibaba were told to pare down their spending on foreign-made chips like Nvidia's.The new directive would be a huge downer for Nvidia, which sees the country as a key market.Chinese officials are asking domestic tech giants to buy locally-made AI chips instead of Nvidia's, The Information reported on Monday.Major tech companies like Alibaba, Baidu, TikTok parent company ByteDance, and Tencent were told to pare back their spending on foreign-made chips like Nvidia's, the outlet reported, citing people familiar with the matter.Chinese tech giants, The Information's sources said, are now expected to purchase equal numbers of locally and foreign-made AI chips for their new data centers.According to the outlet, the directive hasn't been strictly enforced, and it is unclear if any penalties will be imposed for non-compliant companies.Representatives for China's National Development and Reforms Commissions, its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the four tech giants didn't respond to The Information's requests for comments.