Chinese companies are massively abandoning Nvidia chips in favor of domestic AI accelerators

A Bloomberg Intelligence survey found that Chinese firms are sharply increasing the share of local suppliers in the budget for AI equipment. This reflects the consequences of US geopolitical restrictions and Beijing's push for technological sovereignty.

Chinese companies are actively moving from advanced accelerators from American Nvidia to domestic analogues, xrust reported. According to a fresh Bloomberg Intelligence survey published on July 7, 2026, top managers plan to allocate 46% of the budget for AI accelerators to local products in the next 12 months. Now this share is about 30%.

This is a significant shift caused by years of US export restrictions. Since 2022-2023, Washington has been steadily tightening rules for the supply of high-performance chips to China to limit the development of military and advanced AI there. In response, Beijing is strengthening its import substitution policy, investing huge amounts of money in its own semiconductor industry.

Why does this happen

Nvidia dominated the Chinese AI chip market (share reached 80-95% in past years), offering flagship solutions like the H100/H200. However, due to sanctions, supplies of top models are severely limited or prohibited. Chinese companies have to either use weakened versions (such as H20) or switch to local chips.

The main beneficiary was Huawei with its Ascend line (including 910C, 950PR and others). Other players Cambricon, Moore Threads and Alibaba (T-Head) are also ramping up production. According to various estimates, domestic suppliers already occupy a significant market share, and Huawei may lead in China in 2026.

The survey also revealed the problem of budget overruns: 80% of executives noted that total IT infrastructure costs this year exceed plans. The main reason is the high cost of AI projects, including the purchase of equipment and adaptation of software for local chips.

Implications for the global market

For Nvidia, China was one of the key markets. The company has already acknowledged a significant decline in its presence there, although global sales of AI chips continue to grow, driven by demand in the US, Europe and other regions. Analysts predict further strengthening of Chinese manufacturers.

In Russia, this news is interesting in the context of its own efforts to develop AI and import substitution in IT. While direct sourcing from China may also face logistical challenges, its neighbors' experiences show how geopolitics is accelerating the creation of alternatives to global vendors. China is allocating hundreds of billions of dollars (according to some plans, the equivalent of trillions of rubles) for national AI infrastructure.

Experts note that Chinese chips are still often inferior to Nvidia in raw performance on certain tasks, but the gap is closing, especially in inference (operation of ready-made models). The software ecosystem (frameworks, compilers) for Ascend is actively developing.

Thus, the survey confirms the trend: the technological “war” of chips leads to market fragmentation. China is confidently moving toward self-sufficiency, which is changing the global balance of power in artificial intelligence.

On the news https://www.bloomberg.com

Xrust Chinese companies are massively abandoning Nvidia chips in favor domestic AI accelerators