BEIJING, January 8, 2026, 01:39 (GMT+8)
Beijing has asked some Chinese tech companies to halt orders for Nvidia’s H200, a high-end graphics processing unit used to train and run AI models, the Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The move came as China weighs whether — and on what terms — it will allow access to the chips, the report said. “China is committed to basing its national development on its own strengths,” said Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States. Reuters
The pause underlines how quickly AI hardware has become a bargaining chip in the wider U.S.-China tech fight, with export licences and domestic industrial policy now shaping who gets computing power and when. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters this week he was not expecting a formal sign-off from Beijing: “It’s just going to be purchase orders.” Nvidia has said it is seeking U.S. export approvals, and has called for $500 billion in sales from its current Blackwell chips and the next-generation Vera Rubin line by the end of the year. Reuters
At CES in Las Vegas, Lenovo signalled how much urgency sits behind those chips, pitching a data-centre package with Nvidia that it said could cut AI deployments to “weeks.” Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said the tie-up “sets a new benchmark for scalable AI factory design,” as the PC maker pushed an AI platform, new device concepts and a cross-device “Qira” system that can run across Lenovo and Motorola hardware. Reuters
Money is still chasing the buildout. Elon Musk’s xAI said it raised $20 billion in an upsized Series E round, topping its $15 billion target, with investors including Valor Equity Partners, StepStone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company and the Qatar Investment Authority. Asked for comment, xAI replied: “Legacy Media Lies.” Reuters
Another bet landed on measurement rather than models. LMArena, the startup behind the “Chatbot Arena” style head-to-head tests of large language models — AI systems that generate text — said it raised $150 million at a $1.7 billion valuation, with Felicis and UC Investments co-leading. “To measure the real utility of AI, we need to put it in the hands of real users,” said co-founder and CEO Anastasios Angelopoulos. Reuters
Robots are pulling in deal money too. Mobileye said it would buy humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for about $900 million, extending its self-driving technology into what it calls “embodied AI” — software that senses and acts through a physical machine. Tesla, Figure AI and Agility Robotics are among groups chasing two-legged robots for warehouses and factories, with Mobileye saying first proof-of-concept deployments are expected in 2026. Reuters
But the near-term risk is that policy moves outrun engineering plans. If Beijing hardens its stance on foreign chips — or if U.S. export approvals tighten again — cloud providers and AI labs could face gaps in supply, higher costs and delayed rollouts just as they lock in spending.
For now, markets will watch for any shift in Chinese guidance on H200 orders and for clearer timing on U.S. export licences. The next signal may be mundane: a purchase order that appears — or doesn’t.
