Chinese Entities Obtain Banned Nvidia Chips Despite U.S. Restrictions

Recent reports reveal that Chinese universities and research institutions have acquired high-end Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips through resellers, despite the expanded US ban on such technology sales to China, as reported by Eduardo Baptista, Fanny Potkin, and Max A. Cherney for Reuters.

A review of numerous tender documents indicates that ten Chinese entities procured advanced Nvidia chips embedded in server products from Super Micro Computer Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., and Gigabyte Technology Co Ltd. I Photo: SMCI Wikimedia Commons

A review of numerous tender documents indicates that ten Chinese entities procured advanced Nvidia chips embedded in server products from Super Micro Computer Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., and Gigabyte Technology Co Ltd.

These acquisitions occurred after the US broadened the embargo on November 17, subjecting additional chips and countries to licensing regulations.

The servers containing Nvidia's advanced chips were obtained between November 20 and February 28, according to previously undisclosed tenders.

While the US prohibits Nvidia and its partners from directly selling such chips to China, including through third parties, the transactions are not illegal within China. The chips were sold by lesser-known Chinese retailers, as highlighted in a report by Alexandra Alper, Karen Freifeld, and Ben Blanchard for CNN.