Chinese AI companies are optimising software to cope with surging demand for inference, as part of that workload still relies on computing power from a limited pool of high-end chips amid restricted access to Nvidia processors.

Compared with training an artificial intelligence model, which relies on high-end chips, inference – a later phase in which the trained model applies its knowledge to process responses – can be adapted to domestic hardware. However, industry insiders said complex tasks like coding still required Nvidia chips, which meant the sector was facing