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Nvidia's advanced AI chips are still making it to China despite the US banning their export to the country. At least 10 Chinese buyers have obtained Nvidia's upscale chips "embedded in server products" from companies like Supermicro and Dell, Reuters reports.
Most of the resellers tracked in the investigation are small Chinese retailers. Some of the buyers are Chinese universities and research organizations, according to the report, which cites "hundreds" of tender documents detailing the acquisitions.
These sales could violate US restrictions, which banned advanced AI chips from being sold from the US to China. The US announced the restrictions in 2022, but chips were still making it overseas, so the Department of Commerce tried to close some loopholes with more restrictions in October 2023. However, China has no rules prohibiting its residents or institutions from buying the chips.
The Department of Commerce declined to comment to Reuters on whether it's conducting an investigation, but said it monitors the chip market for potential export violations.
"If we determine that any product was subsequently resold in violation of US export control rules, we'll work with our customers to take appropriate action," an Nvidia representative tells the outlet. PCMag reached out to Nvidia for comment.
Supermicro's law firm tells Reuters that it goes "above and beyond" to make sure its products don't violate US restrictions, and Dell said it "found no evidence" of such violations.
It's unclear how buyers in China managed to get a hold of the chips. They could have been purchased in bulk before the export ban was implemented. Or they could have been secretly shuffled to China without Nvidia's knowledge, according to a lawyer cited in the report.
While some Chinese institutions are reportedly still buying advanced US chips, the country's government has made plans to phase out US chips from some of its infrastructure, pulling Intel and AMD processors from government computers and telecommunications networks.