NVIDIA's RTX 5090 GPUs Hit $5,000 on China's Black Market Amidst AI Demand Surge Fueled by DeepSeek

NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs are seeing unprecedented demand in China, where prices have skyrocketed to as much as $5,000 on the black market. This surge is reminiscent of the crypto-mining boom, but this time driven by the explosive growth of AI, particularly thanks to DeepSeek’s R1 AI models, as revealed by a recent paywalled report from The Information.

DeepSeek, whose AI technology has gained rapid popularity in China, has inadvertently caused a massive uptick in demand for NVIDIA’s consumer-grade graphics cards. Chinese tech firms and individual consumers have discovered that DeepSeek’s powerful AI models can effectively run on GPUs like the RTX 5090, offering substantial cost savings compared to specialized AI chips such as NVIDIA’s H20 accelerators.

According to The Information's sources, local chip smugglers claim:

“DeepSeek’s skyrocketing popularity has boosted demand for Nvidia’s gaming chips in the underground market as tech firms realize they can run DeepSeek’s models at a fraction of the price of AI chips.”

Due to trade restrictions and limited official availability, Chinese consumers have resorted to purchasing GPUs via unofficial channels. NVIDIA’s official RTX 5090 models, as well as the cut-down RTX 5090D variant intended for the Chinese market, are now scarce, fueling a black market where prices have soared dramatically. Current street prices of these GPUs reach as high as $5,000, creating market conditions reminiscent of the GPU shortages seen during the cryptocurrency mining boom.

Why NVIDIA’s RTX 5090?

The GeForce RTX 5090’s impressive AI capabilities—such as 3,352 AI TOPS and advanced 5th-generation Tensor Cores—make it especially appealing for running AI workloads. This has transformed NVIDIA’s consumer GPUs into a popular alternative for AI applications in China, especially for smaller tech firms that cannot afford expensive, dedicated AI accelerators.

Security Concerns

Adding to the controversy, DeepSeek has recently faced criticism for reportedly sending user data to Chinese servers due to security flaws identified in its iOS app, raising additional concerns alongside its popularity surge.

As the AI race heats up globally, NVIDIA finds itself uniquely positioned to benefit from the rapidly growing AI sector, specifically in consumer-level hardware. The company continues to outperform rivals by providing high VRAM and powerful computational capabilities, essential for large language models (LLMs) and generative AI.

Would you spend $5,000 on an RTX 5090 GPU, or is the AI-driven GPU demand bubble bound to burst? Let us know your thoughts below!