ByteDance, Alibaba Group and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a combined list price exceeding $35 billion, Reuters reported on 20 October. The orders are for workstation hardware that Chinese buyers can obtain under US export restrictions, rather than the more powerful data-centre chips those restrictions block. Nvidia has warned customers and partners that it cannot guarantee deliveries.
Key points
- The three companies have ordered more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards, priced at around $11,400 each.
- Orders from Chinese customers exceed 6 million cards, while Nvidia has indicated it could produce no more than 3 million worldwide in 2027.
- Nvidia has told partners they might receive only 5% to 10% of the quantities requested.
- Chinese buyers are seeking the cards principally for inference, rather than training large models.
US controls leave workstation cards available
The RTX PRO 5500 is designed for professional computers rather than large data-centre clusters. It is nevertheless among the most powerful Nvidia products available to Chinese customers under the current US rules. Those controls bar sales of Nvidia’s Blackwell-based B300 data-centre chip to Chinese buyers. Exports of the Hopper-based H200 are subject to individual review and licensing conditions.
That distinction determines which Nvidia hardware Chinese companies can order without seeking permission for a restricted data-centre processor. Reuters reported that the companies primarily want the RTX PRO 5500 for inference — running trained models to produce responses and carry out tasks — rather than for training large models. Inference generally needs less computing power than training on very large datasets, but the reported volume of orders still exceeds Nvidia’s indicated worldwide output for the card in 2027.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, has said the restrictions cut the company’s share of China’s AI data-centre chip market from a near monopoly to effectively zero. Nvidia’s continuing orders for workstation cards sit alongside a shift towards Chinese suppliers. Beijing has encouraged the use of locally developed semiconductors, while Chinese chipmakers have struggled to match leading US products and face restrictions on equipment used to manufacture advanced chips.
Nvidia’s 2027 production faces larger orders
Nvidia has indicated that it could make no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards globally in 2027, according to Reuters. Orders from customers in China alone have exceeded 6 million. One person familiar with the orders said Nvidia had indicated that customers might receive only 5% to 10% of what they sought. Those are potential allocations, not delivered quantities, and the company has told customers it cannot guarantee that their orders will be filled.
The cards are priced at around $11,400 each, according to two people familiar with the matter. ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent account for more than 3 million units in the reported orders. Their combined list price exceeds $35 billion. The figure describes the value of cards requested, while Nvidia’s warning places the number it can supply at the centre of the purchasing decision.
Manufacturing priorities may narrow the available supply. From 2027, Nvidia is expected to devote much of its capacity at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Rubin, its next platform for large data centres, potentially leaving less for products including the RTX PRO 5500. Nvidia told customers to expect early samples in December and scheduled commercial deliveries to start in the first quarter of 2027.
Tansun orders 20,000 RTX PRO 5500 cards
The RTX PRO 5500 offers performance comparable to the RTX 6000D, an Nvidia product with reduced capabilities introduced to comply with US restrictions. Major Chinese technology companies initially had limited interest in the RTX 6000D: they considered its capabilities too costly at its price and expected that Washington might permit sales of stronger chips. One person familiar with the market said the RTX 6000D has since been discontinued and its price in China has doubled.
A previous AI Affairs report found that Chinese companies bought more than one million Nvidia gaming and workstation chips in 2026. The new orders concern another product in the category of hardware Chinese buyers can seek under the export rules. Nvidia’s warning to partners also gives those buyers a reason to plan around receiving fewer cards than they requested.
Tansun Technology, a Shenzhen-listed financial technology and AI-computing services company, disclosed in a filing dated 13 October an agreement to buy 20,000 RTX PRO 5500 cards from an unidentified counterparty. The company warned that shortages, industry demand and overseas technology restrictions could delay delivery or reduce the number of cards supplied.
