A Chinese academic institution with connections to the defense sector bought restricted AI accelerators in late October, procurement records indicate, despite being under a U.S. trade ban. The purchase of Nvidia H200 chips by the university underscores ongoing failures in the U.S. government’s vetting process for high-end semiconductor exports to the mainland.
The acquisition follows a New York Times report alleging that the Commerce Department granted export licenses to shell companies and firms linked to sanctioned investment funds to ship Nvidia hardware. These gaps in enforcement persist while Beijing restricts its own imports to prioritize domestic hardware; roughly 600,000 H200 chips currently remain stuck in Hong Kong, a shortage that has pushed the gray market cost of eight-card servers to about $900,000.
