Overview
- Reuters reports China has directed all new state‑funded data centers to use only domestically produced AI chips, with projects under 30% completion required to remove foreign chips or cancel pending orders.
- Provincial programs in Guizhou, Gansu and Inner Mongolia offer electricity discounts reportedly up to about 50% for facilities using Chinese chips, backed by the roughly $50 billion Big Fund III.
- Corriere della Sera reports Nvidia’s share of China’s AI‑accelerator market has fallen from about 95% in 2022 to effectively zero following Beijing’s procurement shift.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang warned China could win the AI race due to cheaper power, lighter rules and a more proactive mindset, later adding in a company statement that the U.S. must lead and that there are no active plans to ship Blackwell to China.
- The Wall Street Journal, as cited, says hawkish U.S. officials including Marco Rubio argued Blackwell sales would threaten national security and influenced President Trump’s decision to keep the chips off the Chinese market.