Chinese language tech giants purchased extra NVIDIA AI GPUs than Meta, Google, Amazon; Microsoft largest purchaser – Firstpost

Chinese language expertise giants Tencent and ByteDance, the corporate behind TikTok, made main strikes within the AI race by snapping up a considerable variety of NVIDIA’s high-end AI GPUs in 2024. These purchases positioned the businesses simply behind Microsoft, which took the crown as the most important purchaser of NVIDIA’s chips final 12 months, in keeping with an Omdia report and Monetary Occasions evaluation.

Each Chinese language corporations every ordered roughly 230,000 of NVIDIA’s Hopper GPUs, together with a specialised H20 variant tailor-made to adjust to US export rules for China. That’s extra AI GPUs, than Google, Meta, Amazon, or Tesla/xAI

In distinction, Microsoft led the pack with an eye-popping acquisition of 485,000 Hopper chips, far outpacing its competitors.

Chinese language corporations surge forward

Tencent and ByteDance’s vital investments sign their intent to stay formidable gamers within the international AI panorama.

Regardless of restrictions imposed by the US, their GPU acquisitions outpaced tech behemoths like Google, Meta, and Amazon, underscoring their dedication to bolster AI capabilities. Analysts anticipate this momentum to proceed effectively into 2025, reflecting China’s broader ambition to remain aggressive in superior expertise.

In the meantime, NVIDIA maintained a dominant place within the AI server {hardware} market, capturing 43 per cent of whole spending in 2024. Whereas AMD additionally gained traction, securing notable orders from Microsoft and Meta, NVIDIA’s Hopper collection remained the go-to alternative for a lot of.

American giants diversifying AI {hardware}

Meta, Amazon, and Google adopted Tencent and ByteDance in GPU purchases, with Meta buying 224,000 models, Amazon choosing up 196,000, and Google securing 169,000. Nevertheless, these US tech giants are more and more specializing in creating their in-house chips to scale back reliance on exterior suppliers.

Google deployed a powerful 1.5 million Tensor Processing Items (TPUs), Meta leveraged its MTIA chips in equal measure, and Amazon leaned on its Trainium and Inferentia chips. Even Microsoft, a stalwart NVIDIA buyer, is testing the waters with its Maia chips, though these efforts stay of their infancy with about 200,000 models put in.

The battle forward

Microsoft’s unparalleled funding in AI {hardware} highlights its ambitions to dominate the sector, however the rising investments by ByteDance and Tencent are a reminder that the AI race is way from a one-horse present. Chinese language corporations haven’t solely navigated commerce restrictions but in addition emerged as aggressive patrons within the international market.

Whereas geopolitical tensions and export controls add layers of complexity to the competitors, 2024 underscored the rising clout of Chinese language corporations. Because the tech world marches into 2025, all eyes are on how these international gamers will form the subsequent chapter of AI innovation.