Key Points
- A new report claims at least $1 billion worth of banned Nvidia AI chips were smuggled into China.
- The report focuses on Nvidia’s most advanced B200 processor, which is now available on the Chinese black market.
- The smuggling allegedly occurred in the three months immediately following the U.S. tightening of its export bans.
- Southeast Asian countries are reportedly being used as a backdoor for the smuggling operations.
A new report from the Financial Times claims that at least $1 billion worth of Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips have been smuggled into China. The smuggling reportedly occurred in the three months right after Washington tightened its export controls, showing just how difficult it is to keep the powerful technology out of Beijing’s hands.
According to the report, which cites sales contracts and inside sources, Nvidia’s top-of-the-line B200 processors are now widely available on a thriving Chinese black market. The report states that Chinese distributors in several provinces sold these banned chips, along with other restricted models, such as the H100 and H200.
This news highlights the high-stakes battle between the U.S. and China for AI dominance. When asked for comment, Nvidia stated that building data centers with smuggled products is inefficient and that the company only provides support for authorized chips. The report comes just as the Trump administration recently reversed a separate ban on a less powerful chip, the H20, creating a complex picture for U.S. policy.
The report suggests that Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, have become key transit points for Chinese groups to obtain the restricted chips. In response, the U.S. Commerce Department is reportedly considering new export controls on countries like Thailand as soon as September to close this loophole.
