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China May Let Alibaba, ByteDance Buy Nvidia's New RTX Pro 5500 Chips

China's tech regulator has reportedly signaled it may approve Alibaba and ByteDance purchases of Nvidia's new RTX Pro 5500 workstation chip — a potential workaround to ongoing export restrictions, though unconfirmed by Reuters or the companies involved.

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China may allow companies including Alibaba ($BABA) and ByteDance to buy Nvidia's ($NVDA) new RTX Pro 5500 chips, The Information reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The ask: China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requested details from the companies on planned order volumes and intended use.

Signal of approval: the ministry reportedly told some firms it intends to approve the purchases, though no formal approval has been announced.

Why this chip: the RTX Pro 5500, a workstation card released this month, is expected by some industry executives to sidestep U.S. export restrictions that cover Nvidia's data-center accelerators.

Not yet confirmed: Reuters said it could not independently verify the report or reach Alibaba, ByteDance, or the Chinese government for comment.

Nvidia's response: a spokesperson said U.S. firms remain restricted by "a combination of outdated US export controls" and China's own limits on U.S. imports.

Why it matters. Nvidia's China data-center revenue has been squeezed to a sliver of its total business under dueling U.S. and Chinese restrictions. Even a workstation-chip workaround could reopen a meaningful revenue channel — ByteDance alone is said to be considering an order approaching 1 million units.

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