Nvidia is ramping up hiring in China to focus on AI-driven cars, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) – Nvidia has added about 200 people in China this year to boost its research capabilities and focus on new autonomous driving technologies, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

In the past few years, it has expanded nationally and now has nearly 600 employees in Beijing, and recently opened a new office in the Zhongguancun technology area, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The artificial intelligence maker employed about 29,600 people in 36 countries by the end of the 2024 fiscal year, according to a filing published by Nvidia in February.

Nvidia declined to comment on the Bloomberg report.

The company is under investigation in China for alleged violations of the country's anti-terror law, an investigation widely seen as a retaliation shot against Washington's latest crackdown on China's chip sector.

China accounted for about 17% of Nvidia's revenue in the year to the end of January, up from 26% two years earlier.

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Janane Venkatraman)