US-blacklisted Chinese university buys Nvidia H200 AI chips through domestic suppliers: Report

Beijing [China], November 11 (ANI): A Chinese university with close ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has purchased Nvidia’s advanced H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips despite being on a US trade blacklist, highlighting gaps in Washington’s restrictions on China’s access to high-end computing technology, according to a Reuters report.

Northwestern Polytechnical University bought two H200 chips for 874,700 yuan (around USD 123,000) last month through a Chinese technology supplier, rather than directly from Nvidia, procurement records reviewed by Reuters showed.

The university, based in Xi’an, is part of China’s ‘Seven Sons of National Defense’ group of institutions with close links to the country’s defence sector. It conducts research related to military aircraft, missiles and satellites.

The US Commerce Department added the university to its Entity List in 2001 over its alleged involvement in missile proliferation and military research. Restrictions were tightened in 2019, making licences for exports of controlled US technology to the institution subject to a policy of denial in most circumstances.

The H200 is among Nvidia’s most powerful chips for training and running advanced AI systems and requires US export licence approval. The university also obtained access to H200 chips through computing services rented from Chinese companies, procurement records showed.

Its cybersecurity school awarded two seven-month contracts in January for access to servers containing eight H200 chips each. The contracts, worth 441,700 yuan (USD 66,218.4) and 441,000 yuan (USD 66,113.49), covered AI model training and reinforcement learning. It also rented access to servers containing Nvidia A100 and A800 chips, which are barred from export to all Chinese entities.

Reuters said its review of 26 Chinese procurement and corporate records from this year found several universities and research institutions purchasing US-restricted Nvidia chips or renting access to computing services powered by them through domestic suppliers. Some of the institutions had links to China’s defence industry or military research.

Other purchases included three H100 processors by Shenzhen University for 769,800 yuan (USD 115,406.2) in September, while Wuhan University of Technology bought a server containing an H100 chip and four A100 processors. Beihang University, another member of the Seven Sons group, purchased four A800 processors in April.

The findings come amid growing scrutiny in Washington over Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s support for easing restrictions on AI chip sales to China. Some US lawmakers have argued that access to advanced chips could accelerate China’s development of military AI capabilities.

The Trump administration began allowing certain H200 exports to China on a case-by-case basis in January, but this did not remove restrictions on institutions on the Entity List. The rules also require safeguards to prevent blacklisted entities and military end-users from remotely accessing chips exported under the policy.

The controversy first came to light on Sunday, when reports emerged alleging that Huang had been involved in an extramarital relationship, triggering wider scrutiny of his personal conduct and the circumstances surrounding the allegations.

Huang later acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife in an internal memo to employees, in which he apologised for hurting his wife and children. 

He reportedly addressed the matter during a closed-door staff meeting, expressed regret and did not take questions before moving on to regular business discussions. 

Nvidia’s board has also appointed former acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim and his law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations surrounding the CEO.

Nvidia shares closed at USD 168.95, down USD 9.72 or 5.44 per cent on Tuesday. (ANI)