China Aims to Boost National Compute Capacity by 30% with Tesla's Help

China Aims to Boost National Compute Capacity by 30% with Tesla's Help

China is set to increase its national compute capacity by 30% this year, aiming for a total of 300 exaFLOPS by 2025. This ambitious goal was highlighted at the Global Digital Economy Conference 2024, where Wang Xiaoli from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology revealed that China's current capacity stands at 230 exaFLOPS, housed in over 8.1 million datacenter racks.

This marks a significant increase from the 197 exaFLOPS reported in August 2023 and a jump from 180 exaFLOPS in 2022. To reach the target of 300 exaFLOPS, China plans a substantial acceleration in its computing power growth.

One notable contributor to this surge is Tesla, which has partnered with Shanghai-based cloud computing datacenter service provider Yovole Network. Yovole has adopted advanced technologies such as hydrogen energy, photovoltaic storage, indirect evaporative cooling, and liquid cooling. Additionally, in April, Yovole integrated Tesla's Megapack energy storage technology into its intelligent computing center.

Tesla's involvement extends beyond energy solutions; its electric vehicles, including the Model Y, have been approved for public sector procurement by state-owned enterprises in the Shanghai pilot free trade zone.

China's plans to expand its compute capacity are part of a broader strategy to enhance its digital economy, support AI workload deployment, and enable rural areas to benefit from the computing boom. This growth in computing power is seen as a crucial step in transforming China's economy and maintaining its competitive edge in the global digital landscape.

While the specifics of how China will add 70 exaFLOPS in the coming months remain unclear, the integration of cutting-edge technologies and international partnerships like those with Tesla demonstrate a robust approach to achieving this goal. This development comes amidst broader geopolitical and economic dynamics, including recent EU tariffs on Chinese EV-makers and the opportunity for international businesses to engage with the Chinese market.