# ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent Ordered Over $35B of Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 Cards, Reuters Reports; Fill Rate May Be 5–10%

Times of AI Desk · 2026-10-20 · Industry

[https://timesof.ai/2026/10/bytedance-alibaba-tencent-35b-nvidia-rtx-pro-5500-orders-reuters](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/bytedance-alibaba-tencent-35b-nvidia-rtx-pro-5500-orders-reuters)

> Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reports ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 workstation cards at about $11,400 each — a sticker value of more than $35B — and that Nvidia has said it may fill only 5–10% of requested quantities. The figure is order sticker value, not booked revenue. Single-wire exclusive.

China's largest platforms are still placing multibillion-dollar orders for a cut-down Nvidia part — and Nvidia, not a new licence, may be the bottleneck. **Reuters**, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported on **Tuesday, October 20** that **ByteDance**, **Alibaba** and **Tencent** have ordered more than **3 million** of Nvidia's new **RTX PRO 5500** graphics cards at about **$11,400** each, for a combined **sticker price of more than $35 billion**. A third person, together with the first two, said Nvidia has told customers and partners it **cannot guarantee** it will fill the orders. One source said partners might receive only **5% to 10%** of requested quantities.

That $35 billion is the face value of the orders, not booked revenue. At a 5–10% fill rate, the revenue that would actually ship would be a fraction of the sticker total. Every figure below is anonymous-source Reuters reporting; The Next Web restates the same exclusive and is not independent corroboration.

## What Reuters says was ordered

The RTX PRO 5500 is a **workstation** card for professional computers, not a data-centre training chip. Reuters calls it among the most powerful Nvidia parts still sold to Chinese buyers: the Blackwell **B300** is barred under US export controls, and **H200** exports are reviewed case by case. Reuters labels the card **export-compliant**, not export-approved; we saw no Bureau of Industry and Security statement confirming a licence.

Buyers want the cards mainly for **inference**, the three sources said. Nvidia has told customers to expect early samples in **December** and commercial deliveries from the **first quarter of 2027**, they added. One source said Nvidia indicated it could produce no more than **3 million** RTX PRO 5500 cards **globally in 2027**; two sources said total orders from China have exceeded **6 million**. From 2027, Nvidia is expected to devote much of its **TSMC** capacity to **Rubin** rather than products like the RTX PRO 5500, two sources said; TSMC declined to comment.

An Nvidia spokesperson said US firms remain restricted by "**outdated US export controls**" and China's own limit on US imports. ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, BIS and China's MIIT did not respond, Reuters reported.

The order volume lands in the same week as [China's draft export controls on 23 AI technologies](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/china-mofcom-draft-export-controls-23-ai-technologies) and the [DHS move to remove DeepSeek from civilian federal IT](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/dhs-fascsa-order-removes-deepseek-civilian-federal-it).

## Limits

- Single-wire exclusive with anonymous sources; every figure is Reuters' reporting.
- $35B is order sticker value, not revenue; the 5–10% fill guidance makes a near-$35B book impossible on these orders alone.
- "Export-compliant" is Reuters' wording; we do not treat it as a BIS approval.

## Sources

- [Reuters via IEX.nl: Exclusive — ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent place over $35 billion worth of Nvidia chip orders (October 20, 2026)](https://www.iex.nl/Nieuws/881932/Exclusive-ByteDance-Alibaba-Tencent-place-over-35-billion-worth-of-Nvidia-chip-orders.aspx)
- [The Next Web: ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent order $35bn of Nvidia chips, Reuters reports (October 20, 2026)](https://thenextweb.com/news/nvidia-rtx-pro-5500-china-orders-bytedance-alibaba-tencent)
- [Times of AI: China draft AI export controls on 23 technologies (October 20, 2026)](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/china-mofcom-draft-export-controls-23-ai-technologies)
- [Times of AI: DHS FASCSA order removes DeepSeek from civilian IT (October 20, 2026)](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/dhs-fascsa-order-removes-deepseek-civilian-federal-it)