Nvidia AI chips worth US$1b illegally shipped to China amid U.S export controls – Report

According to a Financial Times report on Thursday, Nvidia illegally shipped more than $1 billion worth of its cutting-edge AI processors to China within three months of tighter U.S. export regulations.

Sales contracts, corporate filings, and sources with direct knowledge of the transactions were cited in the report, which also claimed that despite a ban on sales of its high-end B200 processors to China, the chips are still widely available on a thriving black market.

Nvidia, which only offers service and support for officially approved hardware, told Reuters that it is both technically and financially inefficient to use smuggled products to construct data centers.

According to the report, as of May, several Chinese distributors began supplying B200 chips to data center providers serving Chinese AI companies.

The United States and China continue to compete for global leadership in artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, putting companies like Nvidia in a difficult position as they navigate tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Last week, Nvidia stated that it would be able to resume chip sales to China after the Trump administration lifted an export ban on models such as the H20, which had been in effect since April.

According to the Financial Times, Chinese wholesalers from provinces including Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Anhui sold Nvidia’s B200 chips, as well as other restricted processors such as the H100 and H200, in the three months preceding the reversal.

Southeast Asian countries have become markets where Chinese groups obtained restricted chips, the report said, citing industry experts.