Nvidia preparing Groq chips that can be sold in Chinese market, sources say

Nvidia preparing Groq chips that can be sold in Chinese market, sources say

Nvidia is preparing a ​version of its Groq artificial-intelligence chips that can be sold to ‌the Chinese market, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Nvidia acquired Groq, an AI chip startup, late last year in a $17 billion deal and showed ​a new lineup of products based around its chips at its ​annual developer conference in San Jose, California, this week.

The move ⁠to develop a version of the chips for the Chinese market comes ​as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that the company has restarted production of ​its H200 chips, the predecessor to its current flagship chip, after obtaining export licenses from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and purchase orders from Chinese customers.

Nvidia plans to tap ​Groq's chips for what is known as inference, where AI systems answer ​questions, write code or carry out tasks for users. In the products Nvidia showed this ‌week, ⁠the company plans to use its forthcoming Vera Rubin chips, which cannot be sold in China, in combination with the Groq chips.

While Nvidia dominates the market for training AI systems, it faces much more competition in the inference ​market. Several major ​Chinese firms, including ⁠AI heavyweights such as Baidu (9888.HK), opens new tab, already produce their own inference chips.

The chips being readied for China are not downgraded ​versions or made specifically for the Chinese market, one ​of the ⁠sources told Reuters. But the new variant can be adapted to work with other systems, the source said, adding that the Groq chip is expected to ⁠be available ​in May.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to ​a request for comment.