Chinese AI Firms Order $70B in Nvidia Chips but Face Severe Supply Constraints

Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and other Chinese artificial intelligence companies have reportedly placed orders for approximately six million Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 chips worth a combined $70 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Despite the scale of the orders, buyers expect deliveries to remain severely constrained. Initial shipments are reportedly projected to amount to several thousand chips by year-end, followed by tens of thousands around February.
The companies expect to receive only about 1% of their requested volume over the next four months, with estimates pointing to approximately 700,000 chips delivered by the end of 2027.
The gap between orders and expected deliveries highlights the difficulty Chinese technology companies face in securing sufficient computing capacity for AI development.
The reported $70 billion represents the value of orders rather than completed sales. Actual revenue recognition will depend on deliveries, contractual terms and any applicable export restrictions.