China’s CXMT to start advanced AI memory production despite poor yields, sources say

The logo of China's top memory chipmaker CXMT can be seen on the facade of company's production facility in Beijing on July 29. | REUTERS

Reuters

Oct 28, 2026

China’s CXMT plans to start production of HBM3E, an advanced type of high-bandwidth memory chip used with AI processors, despite as little as 20% of the chips it makes being usable, two people familiar with the matter said.

The decision highlights China’s intense shortage of the AI memory chips, which are essential to a government-backed push to develop domestic alternatives to Nvidia’s AI processors at scale amid U.S. curbs on access to foreign-made technology.

ChangXin Memory Technologies — China’s largest maker of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), the conventional memory used in computers and servers — has sent HBM3E samples to several domestic AI chip designers, the people said. It expects to begin limited production over the next two months, one person said.

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