Alibaba and Baidu Adopt Their Own AI Chips in Major Shift for Chinese Tech

Chinese tech giants Alibaba Group and Baidu have begun using their own internally designed chips to train their artificial intelligence models, partly replacing AI chips made by Nvidia, according to four people with direct knowledge of the moves. The move is the latest sign that a decoupling of Chinese AI development from the Western semiconductor ecosystem is underway.

Until recently Chinese firms were entirely dependent on Nvidia chips for most of their AI development. But U.S. export controls introduced over the past few years have steadily reduced the power of the AI chips Nvidia could sell in the Chinese market, while the Chinese government has lately put pressure on local companies to use homegrown chips. The result is that Nvidia’s Chinese business is likely to shrink more than it already has.