China’s chip industry may have found a way to make an advanced chip possible powering 5G smartphonesbut it has yet to create a powerful chip to run AI applications. And its reliance on chip imports, already constrained by the US ban, could now put China’s tech industry at a disadvantage in the race to dominate AI.
Chinese tech companies are limiting use of their AI services due to a lack of computing power, due to a shortage of chips, report says Information.
One company, the live streaming platform Kuaishou, had to limit the number of people who could use a test version of Kling, its text-to-video model, to avoid running out of computing power. The company used Nvidia chips, like the A800, to train its model.
AI startup Moonshot AI, most recently highly appreciated at $3 billion, is also warning users of its popular chatbot that computing power may not be enough during peak hours.
Alibaba, Baidu, and ByteDance—all of which offer large language modeling applications—are requiring heavy-use enterprise customers to wait in line, according to Information.
Kuaishou, Moonshot AI, Alibaba and Baidu did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A ByteDance spokesperson said the company does not comment on “market rumors.”
US chip controls take effect
Chinese companies are rush to create AI applications of their own to get ahead in the country’s fiercely competitive consumer internet sector. However, the companies running these applications will need access to the processors that can power them.
America impose strict export controls about selling AI-related chips, like those made by Nvidia, to China.
Chinese companies have previously warned that the export ban is affecting their businesses. Alibaba blames US export controls upon them abandoned his plan to spin off its cloud computing unit last November. At the time, the e-commerce company said the restrictions “could materially and adversely affect” its ability to serve customers.
As non-Chinese companies scramble to get their hands on them on new Nvidia chips, Chinese companies are instead running through their inventoryEQUAL Biden Administration Rules essentially cutting off China’s access to high-end AI chips made by companies like Nvidia and Qualcomm.
While Nvidia and other chipmakers are working on new products that comply with U.S. regulations, Chinese companies are supposedly uninterested on these diluted chips.
Chinese companies like Huawei are working to develop domestically produced AI chips, but it remains uncertain whether the industry can produce high-end semiconductors at scale. US export controls also prohibit the export of advanced chipmaking tools to China. is said to be upset Allies such as the Netherlands and Japan will tighten controls further by stopping maintenance services.
