Despite sanctions, Chinese military, universities, and government bodies procure Nvidia GPUs.

According to the Reuters report, Chinese military institutions, state-run AI research centers, and universities have been acquiring Nvidia’s AI and HPC GPUs, including the A100 and H100, despite U.S. export curbs.

The U.S. imposed bans on the exports of Nvidia’s A100 and H100 chips to China and Hong Kong, which led Nvidia to design A800 and H800 models tailored for the Chinese market. However, Chinese entities continued to acquire A100 and H100 chips through various means, including procurement via tenders and acquiring excess stock from large shipments to U.S. companies or import them through countries like India, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Nvidia has stated its compliance with all applicable export control laws and expects its customers to adhere to the same standards, while the U.S. Department of Commerce is committed to closing loopholes in the export restrictions to prevent such acquisitions in the future.