even more so: Tencent has found a legal way to use American AI chips it is not allowed to buy: it rents them abroad. According to the Financial Times, the Chinese internet giant has signed a five-year lease worth about $7 billion for access to roughly 100,000 advanced AI chips across several Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia, its largest overseas lease. About 30%, roughly $2.1 billion, was paid up front, and the commitment already weighed on Tencent's free cash flow in the second quarter.
https://www.ft.com/content/8799b33d-f07c-4a03-82f0-bf5d3d1d29e9