China's mega-telcos are spending billions on AI servers
(2024/04/24)
- Reference: 1713936609
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/04/24/china_telcos_buying_ai_servers/
- Source link:
Giant Chinese telco China Mobile, which boasts over a billion customers, wants to purchase nearly 8,000 AI servers.
As revealed in a procurement [1]notice , the carrier wants the boxes to come online sometime before 2025.
The purchase could be split between up between seven vendors.
[2]
[3]Local media has referred to the compute acquisition as "the largest centralized procurement of artificial intelligence servers in China to date." The purchase scale could exceed 15 billion yuan ($2 billion).
[4]
[5]
China Mobile isn't the only Middle Kingdom telco working on acquiring AI servers. China Unicom reportedly went to market for 2,500 boxes last month, and China Telecom has also worked to secure some kit.
What the telcos plan to do with the servers remains a mystery. China Mobile operates a hyperscale cloud – one obvious role for its AI servers. Or perhaps the telco will use generative AI for customer service – an application The Register often hears is ideal for the tech.
[6]Banned Nvidia GPUs sneak into sanction-busting Chinese servers
[7]Microsoft aims to triple datacenter capacity to fuel AI boom
[8]China orders its telcos to rip and replace US chips with homegrown silicon by 2027
[9]China scientists talk of powering hypersonic weapon with cheap Nvidia chip
Whatever the carrier and its peers plan to do with AI servers, the source of their GPUs is a subject of considerable interest.
China is yet to develop a domestic GPU capable of handling modern AI workloads in a timely fashion.
[10]
While US-based GPU-makers are able to export their high-end product to China if granted a license to do so, such permission is not likely to be given to China Mobile as it is state-controlled and, like its mega-carrier peers China Telecom and China Unicom, has been [11]named on the US Department of Defense’s "entities identified as Chinese Military Companies."
US tech export bans were created specifically to stop China's military accessing advanced tech.
That leaves performance-limited GPUs from US manufacturers as one possible and legitimate option for China's colosso-carriers.
[12]
Other options include [13]illegal smuggling , or simply [14]acquiring servers with those lesser GPUs inside – transactions of a sort that Dell, Supermicro, and Gigabyte are reportedly happy to conduct. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://b2b.10086.cn/#/noticeDetail?publishId=1780797166832656386&publishUuid=74a28d60512d46fbba679c8372a586ed&publishType=PROCUREMENT&publishOneType=PROCUREMENT
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://finance.sina.cn/stock/relnews/hk/2024-04-23/detail-inasuqpz0142313.d.html?from=wap
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/23/china_banned_nvidia_gpus/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/18/microsoft_datacenter_capacity/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/13/china_telco_chips/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/16/china_nvidia_hypersonic_weapon/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jun/03/2002734519/-1/-1/0/ENTITIES-IDENTIFIED-AS-CHINESE-MILITARY-COMPANIES-OPERATING-IN-THE-US.PDF
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/03/smulgger_gpus_and_lobsters/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/23/china_banned_nvidia_gpus/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
As revealed in a procurement [1]notice , the carrier wants the boxes to come online sometime before 2025.
The purchase could be split between up between seven vendors.
[2]
[3]Local media has referred to the compute acquisition as "the largest centralized procurement of artificial intelligence servers in China to date." The purchase scale could exceed 15 billion yuan ($2 billion).
[4]
[5]
China Mobile isn't the only Middle Kingdom telco working on acquiring AI servers. China Unicom reportedly went to market for 2,500 boxes last month, and China Telecom has also worked to secure some kit.
What the telcos plan to do with the servers remains a mystery. China Mobile operates a hyperscale cloud – one obvious role for its AI servers. Or perhaps the telco will use generative AI for customer service – an application The Register often hears is ideal for the tech.
[6]Banned Nvidia GPUs sneak into sanction-busting Chinese servers
[7]Microsoft aims to triple datacenter capacity to fuel AI boom
[8]China orders its telcos to rip and replace US chips with homegrown silicon by 2027
[9]China scientists talk of powering hypersonic weapon with cheap Nvidia chip
Whatever the carrier and its peers plan to do with AI servers, the source of their GPUs is a subject of considerable interest.
China is yet to develop a domestic GPU capable of handling modern AI workloads in a timely fashion.
[10]
While US-based GPU-makers are able to export their high-end product to China if granted a license to do so, such permission is not likely to be given to China Mobile as it is state-controlled and, like its mega-carrier peers China Telecom and China Unicom, has been [11]named on the US Department of Defense’s "entities identified as Chinese Military Companies."
US tech export bans were created specifically to stop China's military accessing advanced tech.
That leaves performance-limited GPUs from US manufacturers as one possible and legitimate option for China's colosso-carriers.
[12]
Other options include [13]illegal smuggling , or simply [14]acquiring servers with those lesser GPUs inside – transactions of a sort that Dell, Supermicro, and Gigabyte are reportedly happy to conduct. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://b2b.10086.cn/#/noticeDetail?publishId=1780797166832656386&publishUuid=74a28d60512d46fbba679c8372a586ed&publishType=PROCUREMENT&publishOneType=PROCUREMENT
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://finance.sina.cn/stock/relnews/hk/2024-04-23/detail-inasuqpz0142313.d.html?from=wap
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/23/china_banned_nvidia_gpus/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/18/microsoft_datacenter_capacity/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/13/china_telco_chips/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/16/china_nvidia_hypersonic_weapon/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jun/03/2002734519/-1/-1/0/ENTITIES-IDENTIFIED-AS-CHINESE-MILITARY-COMPANIES-OPERATING-IN-THE-US.PDF
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZijYQWNYAFNNiIQjz-GziwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/03/smulgger_gpus_and_lobsters/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/23/china_banned_nvidia_gpus/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Q: When is a Long March not a Long March? A: When ITs AI Derivative is a Short Option
What the telcos plan to do with the [AI] servers remains a mystery.
If you can believe what some have said about a [1]Chinese long plan , and increasingly desperate sanctions upon China aspirations and operations would appear to confirm is actually feared to be the future reality, that should be no mystery whenever just a tall terrified tale to be told to any easily led up perfumed garden paths and prone to listening and reacting to tragi-comic farce.
Methinks one does better to think and accept that it be obvious that any and all planned for AI programming and systems administration servers will very easily, and to more than just a chosen few, disconcertingly so, deliver stellar performance significantly greater than can be simply countered or effectively blocked and stopped by wannabe peer competition or any trailing failed opposition.
To imagine and believe such impossible, rather than realise and accept it more than just likely and probable much sooner than ever expected, is a catastrophic weakness and colossal vulnerability for exploitation and enrichment/trailing and trialing of novel ideas and 0days.
[1] https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2024/04/22/china_information_support_force/#c_4848841