ByteDance, Alibaba Group Holding, and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia Corp.'s new RTX Pro 5500 graphics cards, with a collective sticker price exceeding $35 billion, according to Reuters1,2. The orders target export-compliant chips, as Washington bars Nvidia Corp.'s most powerful accelerators from China. Nvidia Corp. has told customers and partners it cannot guarantee it can fill the orders. ByteDance, Alibaba Group Holding, and Tencent did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
ANALYSIS The scale of the orders underscores the premium China's largest technology companies place on securing whatever Nvidia Corp. silicon remains legally available under current export controls.