Chinese regulators permitted small batches of Nvidia's H200 chips to enter the mainland, with ByteDance and Tencent ((HKG:0700)) each receiving about 10,000 processors recently, The Financial Times reported Wednesday.
Sources said the U.S. cleared the purchase of up to 100,000 H200s apiece, Beijing wants majority of these kept offshore to support domestic chipmakers, according to the report.
The partial loosening aims to help local artificial intelligence labs close the gap with U.S. rivals, though training still relies heavily on Nvidia's technology.
ByteDance, Tencent and China's National Development and Reform Commission did not immediately reply to; requests for comment.
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