Reuters sources say chip firms there are moving aggressively to take sales from the AI market leader.

That after U.S. export controls restricted its shipments to China.

Nvidia currently has around 90% of the market for AI-related chips in the country.

But rivals see an opportunity in the export curbs.

Right now, Huawei is seen as the biggest challenger.

Its latest chips are competitive on at least some metrics.

Chinese search giant Baidu has reportedly placed a big order for processors from the firm.

Gaming company Tencent is making its move too.

It's been pushing services that use an AI chip it developed with startup Enflame.

The silicon is said to offer performance comparable to some Nvidia products.

Tencent is reportedly touting it as a cheaper option for things like image and speech recognition.

There is also competition from a host of smaller players, like state-backed Hygon Information Technology.

Speaking last week, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang acknowledged the challenge, and called Huawei a "formidable" rival.

But analysts say the would-be competitors could struggle with production, even if they can win sales.

That's due to how U.S. curbs make it hard for big chip foundries like Taiwan's TSMC to work with Chinese firms.

Even so, some industry experts think Washington's export controls could backfire.

One analyst told Reuters that, far from being hobbled, Chinese firms were just being spurred to redouble their chip development efforts.