Nvidia Corp (NVDA  ) was absent at China's largest AI show, but its presence was felt as Chinese GPU developers seized the opportunity to promote their products as a comparison.

At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, companies like Huawei Technologies, Tencent Holdings-backed Enflame Technology, and Moore Threads showcased their AI capabilities.

However, the absence of Nvidia, which is restricted from exporting its most advanced chips to China due to U.S. trade regulations, highlighted the competitive gap Chinese firms are trying to close, SCMP reports.

Enflame's chief ecosystem officer, Li Xingyu, noted that much of China's computational power still needs to be utilized due to insufficient demand.

Meanwhile, Huawei's booth, showcasing its Ascend 910B chip, drew significant attention.

San Francisco-based SemiAnalysis predicts Nvidia will deliver over 1 million H20 GPUs in China this year, generating $12 billion in sales.

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA  ) co-founder and chairman Joe Tsai had acknowledged how the U.S. restrictions on Nvidia took a toll on Alibaba's cloud business and its capability to provide high-end computing services.

Meanwhile, a recent report indicated that Nvidia's high-end AI chips are smuggling into China despite U.S. export restrictions. Approximately 12,500 AI chips are smuggled annually, while Nvidia sold over 2.6 million globally last year.

Price Action: At the last check on Wednesday, BABA shares were trading higher by 0.46% at $76.05.