1. China’s four leading GPU developers—MetaX, Iluvatar CoreX, Biren, and Moore Threads—are enjoying a revenue windfall from booming domestic demand for AI computing power, though obstacles still hinder sustained profitability [para. 1]. In the first half of 2026, all four crossed or approached the landmark revenue threshold of 1 billion yuan ($148.8 million), according to their latest financial reports [para. 2]. The surge reflects how quickly domestic tech giants, telecom carriers, and data center operators are shifting to homegrown AI chips as the U.S. tightens controls on advanced semiconductor sales to China [para. 3].
2. The revenue boom stems from a severe supply-demand imbalance in China’s AI infrastructure market [para. 4]. In the first quarter, domestic demand for AI compute jumped 417% year on year, while supply grew only 128%, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology [para. 4]. “It’s hard to find idle chips at present,” said Xuan Shanming, chief technology officer of SenseTime Group’s AI infrastructure business, adding that Chinese-made GPUs are running at much higher utilization rates than in previous years, pushing up prices [para. 5].
3. The explosive demand has produced strong but distinct revenue trajectories [para. 6]. Moore Threads led in absolute scale, with first-half revenue of 1.7 billion yuan, up 147.4% year on year—more than the company earned in all of 2025 [para. 7]. Biren recorded the highest growth rate, nearly 2,000% year on year, with total revenue of 1.2 billion yuan [para. 8].
4. MetaX achieved year-on-year sales growth of 44.7%, reaching 1.3 billion yuan, which the company attributed to continued downstream client recognition of its products and services and a notable rise in GPU shipments [para. 9]. Iluvatar rounded out the group with revenue up 191.6% to 945.7 million yuan; its disclosures showed that lower-margin inference GPUs accounted for nearly 70% of revenue, while higher-margin training GPUs made up about 30% [para. 10].
5. Behind the solid sales growth, profitability remains uneven [para. 11]. MetaX reported a shareholder-attributable net profit of 612.4 million yuan in the first half, reversing a net loss of 185.9 million yuan a year earlier, but warned the result was not sustainable because it largely stemmed from an 887 million yuan gain on tradable financial assets [para. 12]. Iluvatar swung to a net profit of 106.3 million yuan from a year-earlier net loss of 609.3 million yuan, helped by an expanding customer base in internet, AI model, financial, and healthcare industries [para. 13].
6. Biren and Moore Threads remained in the red, although both narrowed their deficits significantly—by 76.4% and 95.7% year on year, respectively [para. 14].
7. A major drag on profitability is relentless R&D spending: the four companies allocated between 40% and 65% of first-half revenues to R&D, spending hundreds of millions of yuan to narrow the gap with global leaders and adapt technologies to domestic customers [para. 15]. As one industry participant put it, a single generation of chips can be profitable, but the money earned from that generation must immediately be invested in developing the next one [para. 16].
AI generated, for reference only
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