Foreign media: China pays more attention to the localization of artificial intelligence chips
With the intensifying Sino-US technological competition, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing, China is taking a series of measures to strengthen its technological foundation, reducing reliance on US products. One of the key pillars of this strategy is supporting domestic chip manufacturers, aiming to provide alternatives to products from companies like NVIDIA. According to the Financial Times, recent measures by the Chinese government indicate that, in the face of external pressure, China is turning to promote a more systematic and institutionalized "technological sovereignty".
The Financial Times also reported that China has included domestic artificial intelligence chips in the official procurement list for the first time. According to two sources, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China has recently added artificial intelligence processors from Chinese companies such as Huawei and Cambricon to the list of suppliers for government procurement. The Financial Times believes that this move aims to expand the application of domestic semiconductor chips in China's public sector and may bring tens of billions of dollars in additional revenue for local chip manufacturers. This decision was made before President Trump announced on Monday that he would lift U.S. export restrictions and allow NVIDIA to supply its advanced H200 chips to "China-approved customers." However, these supplies may still face obstacles from some Washington legislators and Chinese regulatory authorities.
The new procurement list has not been made public yet, but sources said that some government agencies and state-owned enterprises have already received instructions. Although government agencies had previously been advised to support domestic chip manufacturers, this is the first time that government agencies have received written instructions. This move shows that in the AI competition with the United States, China wants to reduce its reliance on U.S. technology and strengthen its domestic semiconductor industry.
The "Information Technology Innovation List" (known in Chinese as "Xin Chuang Directory") is intended to guide government agencies, research institutions, and state-owned enterprises that spend billions of yuan annually on IT procurement. In recent years, the scope of this list has expanded, covering domestic microprocessors that can replace AMD and Intel products, as well as operating systems that can replace Microsoft Windows. This makes it possible for public sector agencies (from ministries, schools, hospitals, to state-owned enterprises) to gradually phase out foreign technology products.
The article from the Financial Times points out that this move also reflects a belief that the performance of China's artificial intelligence chips has reached a level sufficient to replace similar products from the United States. This is obviously due to the huge investments made by the Chinese government in this field in recent years.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1851125356874848/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.