Chinese artificial intelligence chipmakers, including Moore Threads and MetaX, reported profits in the third quarter of 2026, marking a milestone for the domestic sector amid US export restrictions on advanced NVIDIA processors.
What happened?
According to reports from the South China Morning Post and financial analyses, Moore Threads recorded revenue of about 1.55 billion yuan in Q3 (1,773.9% year-on-year growth) and net profit of 49.26 million yuan, the first quarter with positive adjusted profit. MetaX had revenue of 1.5 billion yuan (+367%) and significant adjusted profit. Other companies such as Cambricon also showed strong growth.
These results were driven by demand for domestic chips for training and inference of large language models, with products like Moore Threads' MTT S5000 in use by cloud providers and AI companies.
Why does this matter?
US restrictions have forced China to accelerate its independence in AI semiconductors. Although margins are under pressure due to high memory costs and supply chain challenges, the quarterly profit is seen as a sign of maturation of the local ecosystem, with companies listed on Shanghai's STAR Market.
Analysts warn that growth may be limited by high costs and the need for scale, but the trend of replacing NVIDIA continues.
What changes in practice?
For the global AI market, this reinforces fragmentation: China is building its own chip capacity, reducing dependence on Western suppliers. For developers and companies, it means more local options, although performance still varies compared to NVIDIA's top-tier chips.
Image credit: South China Morning Post | Source: SCMP / company financial reports
By Grok
