Nvidia Readies Groq AI Chips for Chinese Market
- tech360.tv
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Nvidia is preparing a version of its Groq artificial-intelligence chips for sale to the Chinese market, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The organisation licensed technology from Groq, an AI chip startup, late last year in a USD 17 billion deal, and Nvidia showed a new lineup of products based around its chips at its annual developer conference in San Jose, California, this week.
This development follows comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who said the company restarted production of its H200 chips. These chips are a predecessor to its current flagship.
Huang stated production resumed after obtaining export licenses from the U.S. administration and receiving purchase orders from Chinese customers. This indicates a targeted effort to serve the region.
Nvidia plans to tap Groq's chips for what is known as inference, where AI systems answer questions, write code or carry out tasks for users.
In the products Nvidia showed this week, the company plans to use its forthcoming Vera Rubin chips, which cannot be sold in China, in combination with the Groq chips.
While Nvidia holds a dominant position in the market for training AI systems, it encounters more significant competition in the inference market. Several major Chinese firms, including AI heavyweights such as Baidu, already produce their own inference chips.
Huang underscored the change in his speech at the developer conference on Monday. "The inference inflection has arrived," he said. "And demand just keeps on going up," he added...
He estimated the revenue opportunity for Nvidia AI chips may reach at least USD 1 trillion through 2027.
The chips being readied for China are not downgraded versions or made specifically for the Chinese market, one of the sources told Reuters. But the new variant can be adapted to work with other systems, the source said, adding that the Groq chip is expected to be available in May.
Nvidia is developing a Groq artificial-intelligence chip variant for the Chinese market.
The company previously licensed Groq technology late last year in a USD 17 billion agreement.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated H200 chip production restarted following export licenses from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and Chinese orders.
Source: REUTERS
