China Unicom builds massive data centre with domestic AI chips
China Unicom has completed a major step in building a new data centre powered by domestically developed AI chips from Alibaba and other Chinese firms, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The project underscores Beijing’s push to reduce reliance on foreign technologies.
The announcement comes as U.S. officials raised national security concerns at trade talks in Madrid this week, seeking to limit China’s access to advanced chips and technology.
Beijing pushes for local chip adoption
In response to growing U.S. restrictions, China has urged domestic companies to adopt homegrown chips and avoid using U.S. products such as those from Nvidia, citing security risks.
China Unicom’s $390 million data centre, located in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, is expected to reach a computing power of 20,000 petaflops once complete.
So far, the site has achieved 3,579 petaflops of capacity using nearly 23,000 locally made AI chips, according to CCTV.
Alibaba leads chip supply
About 72% of the chips were supplied by Alibaba’s T-Head unit, with the remainder coming from MetaX, Biren Tech, and Zhonghao Xinying. Future procurement plans include chips from Tecorigin (Wuxi), Moore Threads, and Enflame, CCTV reported.
Alibaba’s T-Head has also launched a PPU AI chip featuring 96GB of memory and HBM2e stacked DRAM. The chip is being positioned as a strong competitor to Nvidia’s H20, the most advanced model the U.S. is currently allowed to sell in China.
Regulatory pressure on Nvidia
Separately, Beijing announced Monday that a preliminary investigation found Nvidia in violation of anti-monopoly laws, further highlighting regulatory pressure on foreign chipmakers.
China Unicom, Alibaba, Biren, MetaX, Enflame, Tecorigin, and Zhonghao Xinying did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Moore Threads declined to comment.
