China’s Military, Gov't Acquire Nvidia Chips Despite U.S. Ban

Chinese military bodies, state-run artificial intelligence research institutes, and universities have, over the past year, purchased small batches of Nvidia semiconductors banned by the US from export to China, according to a Reuters review of tender documents. Eduardo Baptista reported for Reuters.

The graphic processing units (GPUs), a type of chip built by Nvidia, are widely seen as far superior to rival products for AI work as they can more efficiently process huge amounts of data needed for machine-learning tasks. I Photo: NVIDIA

The sales by largely unknown Chinese suppliers highlight the difficulties Washington faces, despite its bans, in cutting off China's access to advanced US chips that could fuel breakthroughs in AI and sophisticated computers for its military.

Buying or selling high-end U.S. chips is not illegal in China, and publicly available tender documents show that dozens of Chinese entities have bought and taken receipt of Nvidia semiconductors since restrictions were imposed, as reported by Josh Ye and Brenda Goh for Reuters.

These include its A100 and the more powerful H100 chip - whose exports to China and Hong Kong were banned in September 2022 - as well as the slower A800 and H800 chips that Nvidia developed for the Chinese market but were also banned last October.

The graphic processing units (GPUs), a type of chip built by Nvidia, are widely seen as far superior to rival products for AI work as they can more efficiently process huge amounts of data needed for machine-learning tasks.

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