Chinese GPU-maker Xiangdixian Computing Technology has admitted it has not met its development targets and let go of some staff as part of a restructuring plan.
The chip shop on Sunday issued a statement in which it denied reports it had collapsed and closed its doors – but left the possibility of that outcome on the table.
"Development of national GPU has not yet fully met the company's expectations and is facing certain market adjustment pressures," the statement reads, adding that it has taken no steps to wind up "so far."
That reference to the "national GPU" reflects China's silicon-self-sufficiency policy, enacted amid US export bans that mean Chinese entities can't legally acquire the most powerful accelerators from the likes of Nvidia and AMD.
Xiangdixian Computing Technology (XCT) has already produced a quartet of modest GPUs – two for desktops and one for workstations. On August 20, the biz described its flagship Tianjun GPU silicon as having "successfully achieved R&D and mass production goals" for applications such as "cloud desktops, CAD/CAE, metaverses, and digital twins."
But not AI – a technology Beijing has repeatedly stated is essential to economic growth and national security.
XCT's announcement states it's retained the core R&D and operations staff management feels are necessary to continue work on GPUs. The firm is also courting investors and seeking external sources of finance.
- Alibaba and Tencent clouds see demand for CPUs level off, GPUs accelerate
- Lenovo brings virtualization, cloud stack to Chinese chip designer Loongson's CPU arch
- Nvidia said to be prepping Blackwell GPUs for Chinese market
- China's Moore Threads adds support for 10K GPU clusters
How and why the enterprise found itself in this position is not known.
XCT is not China's only GPU play. our sibling site The Next Platform last week reported that Huawei has developed accelerators that are vastly inferior to Nvidia's H100 GPUs. Silicon-centric analyst firm Trend Force recently identified seven other Chinese developers of AI-centric silicon. And The Register has reported on efforts at another local player, Moore Threads, to array its modest GPUs into clusters of 10,000 machines.
XCT's troubles will still rankle, as China has poured billions into semiconductor makers – producing allegations of corruption among some recipients of funding, but few examples of leading-edge silicon to power local industry or sell to the world. ®