China Reportedly May Let Alibaba and ByteDance Buy New Nvidia Chips
According to The Information, Beijing has asked companies about their plans regarding the RTX Pro 5500 chip and indicated it would approve such purchases.
September 27, 2026 - 6:16 pm
Alibaba logo (credit: Alibaba)
China’s government is considering allowing firms like Alibaba and ByteDance to acquire Nvidia’s latest RTX Pro 5500 chip. The report, originally published by The Information on Sunday, cites two sources familiar with the matter.
China's tech ministry recently inquired about planned purchases of the chips and intended uses, reportedly telling some companies it would approve their applications.
(Reuters) could not verify the report immediately, and TNW has not independently confirmed it. None of Nvidia, Alibaba, ByteDance, or the ministry have commented publicly as of Sunday.
The RTX Pro 5500 is a powerful workstation graphics card unveiled by Nvidia this month. It's built on the company’s Blackwell design and features 84GB of memory.
Nvidia’s sales in China have been restricted due to US export controls and Beijing’s own policy encouraging domestic chip production. Earlier this year, the US lifted restrictions on sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to Chinese firms, though ByteDance and Tencent were instructed to keep initial shipments in Hong Kong rather than bringing them onto mainland China, as reported by TNW in August.
Story by Alina Maria Stan
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Alina Maria Stan builds connections that people actually feel. As co-founder and COO of Tekpon, she translates product intuition into real moments of discovery, shaping how teams find and adopt SaaS every day. Since 2020, she has led Tekpon’s brand voice, media strategy, and growth plays with a focus on human outcomes behind every metric.
Before Tekpon, Alina explored diverse industries and countries. She held leadership positions at King Casino Bonus, Extremoo Media, and Fable Media in Denmark, honing her affiliate and brand strategy skills while building lasting partnerships. Her CRM and pricing insights developed during her time at K.H. ApS.
Her approach draws from over a decade of international experience and two master’s degrees: Sustainable Consumption from the Technical University of Munich and Consumer Affairs Management from Aarhus University.
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