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Alibaba reportedly plans to order more than 40,000 AMD MI308 chips

Alibaba is reportedly planning to order up to 50,000 MI308 AI accelerators from AMD, designed for the Chinese market and approved for export by the US, which requires a 15% licensing fee. This chip is capable of supporting large language models and offers a cheaper alternative to NVIDIA's offerings. The deal would significantly enhance AMD's presence in China and provide more computing options for local AI developers.

Key points

  • Alibaba is considering purchasing 40,000 to 50,000 MI308 AI accelerators from AMD.
  • The MI308 chip is tailored for the Chinese market and received US export approval.
  • AMD must pay a 15% licensing fee to US authorities for this approval.
  • The MI308 features 192GB of HBM3 memory and can run long-context inference for large language models.
  • Priced around $12,000, the MI308 is about 15% cheaper than NVIDIA’s H20.
  • The deal could enhance AMD's market presence in China and offer more options for Chinese AI developers.

Why it matters

  • This deal reflects ongoing competition in the AI chip market, particularly between AMD and NVIDIA.
  • As of 2025, AI chip demand is expected to soar, making low-cost, efficient chips critical.
  • The export approval signifies potential easing of technological tensions between the US and China.
  • The growing focus on AI in 2025 indicates that companies will seek diverse hardware solutions to meet computational demands.

The potential order from Alibaba signals a pivotal moment for AMD in the Chinese market, bolstering its position amidst competitive pressures while offering an alternative for AI developers in China.