Chinese University linked to military obtains restricted Nvidia AI chips

This revelation comes as Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang face increased scrutiny in the U.S., particularly regarding Huang’s lobbying for relaxed restrictions on AI chip sales to China. Huang has argued that continued sales are vital for maintaining American technological leadership.

However, some U.S. lawmakers express concern that access to powerful AI chips like Nvidia’s could accelerate China’s development of AI systems for military applications, weapons design, and intelligence analysis. Both Democrats and Republicans are pushing for stricter controls, including chip-tracking and increased congressional oversight.

Three Republican congressional committee chairmen have requested a briefing with Huang on November 18th concerning his reported interactions with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.

Northwestern Polytechnical University purchased two H200 chips last month for 874,700 yuan (approximately US$123,000), as indicated by a procurement record on the university’s website. The university is part of the “Seven Sons of National Defense” group, which is under U.S. sanctions and conducts defense-related research for Beijing.

The chips were sourced from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology, rather than directly from Nvidia. The H200 is among Nvidia’s most advanced chips for AI training and requires U.S. export license approvals, typically denied for blacklisted institutions like Northwestern Polytechnical.

Procurement records also reveal that Northwestern Polytechnical secured access to H200 chips and other Nvidia AI processors through contracts with Chinese companies, renting computing capacity.

Reuters’ review of 26 Chinese procurement and corporate records indicates that universities and research institutions are acquiring restricted Nvidia chips or renting access to Nvidia-powered computing services through domestic suppliers, many with ties to China’s defense industry.

Based in Xian, Northwestern Polytechnical conducts research related to military aircraft, missiles, and satellites. The U.S. Commerce Department added the university to its Entity List in 2001 due to alleged missile-proliferation activities and military research, with restrictions tightened in 2019.

These purchases demonstrate how Chinese institutions with military connections continue to obtain U.S. AI computing power through domestic suppliers. The U.S. administration under Donald Trump began allowing limited H200 exports to China in January, but this policy does not override restrictions on Entity List organizations.

Beyond the outright chip purchase, records show Northwestern Polytechnical’s cybersecurity school contracted for servers containing eight H200 chips each for AI model training. They also rented servers with Nvidia A100 and A800 chips, which are banned from export to China.

Other institutions have also acquired restricted Nvidia chips. Shenzhen University bought three H100 processors, and Wuhan University of Technology purchased servers and chips. Beihang University, another member of the “Seven Sons of National Defense,” acquired A800 processors.

Reuters has previously reported on Chinese institutions acquiring Nvidia chips embedded in servers from companies like Super Micro Computer, Dell, and Gigabyte, and has documented an underground market for restricted chips.