- The CAC orders giants like Alibaba and ByteDance to cancel testing and orders for Nvidia chips.
- The ban targets models adapted for China such as the RTX Pro 6000D and also the H20.
- Beijing promotes local alternatives (Huawei, Cambricon) after high-level meetings.
- Nvidia regrets the decision; China-US trade tensions set the backdrop.
China has taken a further step in its technological strategy: the country's Internet regulator has instructed major technology groups to Stop buying and cancel orders for Nvidia AI chipsThe directive, attributed to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), directly affects companies such as ByteDance and Alibaba, according to media outlets such as the Financial Times and Reuters.
The measure comes in a climate of trade friction with the United States and after recent regulatory movements, such as the Antitrust investigation in China into Nvidia's purchase of Mellanox. In parallel, industry sources indicate that Beijing has sounded out major national players —Huawei, Cambricon, Alibaba and Baidu— to assess the pulse of local semiconductor production, with the message that domestic chips already equal or surpass to the American models allowed in the country.
What the Chinese regulator (CAC) has ordered
According to the published information, the CAC has indicated to the large technology companies that suspend testing, validations and acquisitions of Nvidia's accelerators designed for the Chinese market. The order focuses on the RTX Pro 6000D —the replacement of H20 for this ecosystem—, and is interpreted as a tightening of previous guidelines that were more focused on H20 itself.
Before the official notification, several companies had advanced talks with integrators and server providers to test and certify significant batches of these chips. Following the regulator's instruction, these processes they have paralyzed, and orders that were in progress have been withdrawn or put on hold, the same sources point out.
The CAC movement fits with the objective of reduce dependence on US hardware in AI training and inference tasks, strengthening a national supply chain capable of supporting large cloud and data center deployments.
Who is affected and what chips are in the spotlight?
The order reaches giants like Alibaba and ByteDance, and indirectly to other groups with advanced AI projects, including BaiduThe focus is on the RTX Pro 6000D, a tailor-made model for China that Nvidia positioned as an option compatible with US export restrictions; and also in the H20, its predecessor, previously singled out by regulators.
Several companies had planned the acquisition of tens of thousands of units of the RTX Pro 6000D and had already begun performance and stability testing on certified servers. That potential demand, however, has cooled following the CAC's instruction, which pushes companies to adopt locally sourced accelerators.
In parallel, the Government would have gathered Huawei, Cambricon, Alibaba and Baidu to review the country's capabilities map. From this dialogue, the thesis emerges that the local supply of AI processors It is already competitive enough to cover the needs of the domestic market without depending on Nvidia.
Reactions and the role of Nvidia
From Nvidia, its CEO, Jensen Huang, has manifested disappointment for the decision, although he acknowledged that it is part of a broader geopolitical agenda between China and the United States. The executive noted that the company has asked analysts to do not incorporate China in your forecasts in the face of regulatory uncertainty.
On the financial front, the change of script has generated episodes of stock market volatility and doubts about China's contribution to the company's data center business. Previous documentation submitted to regulators already warned of a potential impact of several billion euros if the Chinese market were to be closed for a prolonged period.
Nvidia had adjusted its catalog in China with options such as the H20 and the RTX Pro 6000D, products with reduced features compared to their global flagships, in line with the limits imposed by Washington. The current lockdown, however, raises blood pressure to rethink any commercial strategy in the country.
Geopolitical context and trade negotiations
The veto is part of a broader escalation: successive US administrations have limited China's access to advanced chips and critical equipment, while Beijing has responded with regulatory probes and antitrust investigations which now reach Nvidia for its acquisition of Melanox. In addition, investigations have been activated antidumping on certain imported semiconductors.
On the political level, voices in Washington have stressed that China is not an easy business partner and have called for a firm stance. The pulse coincides with rounds of negotiation in Madrid and with high-level contacts between both countries to address everything from tariffs to issues such as the future of technology platforms.
Meanwhile, in China, policies of technological substitutionLocal firms accelerate plans: Huawei prepares new AI processor plants, Cambricon reports advances in demand and profitability, and software players such as DeepSeek optimize their models to run on domestic chips.
The industry is convinced that the official message is unequivocal: hands to work to build a national system capable of sustaining the growth of AI in China, without relying on supplies subject to foreign policy fluctuations.
The episode illustrates a shift in priorities: competition for AI accelerators It's already a strategic issue. For Nvidia, the challenge is to live with these restrictions; for China, to scale its chip ecosystem to cover all demand. own solutions, keeping pace with the United States in the economic, regulatory and technological fields.
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