$1 Billion of Advanced Nvidia Chips Smuggled to China Earlier This Year, Report Says
At least $1 billion worth of Nvidia advanced AI chips were smuggled into China about a month after the Trump administration placed new export controls on the company's less advanced chips, the Financial Times reported July 24. Multiple Chinese distributors in May began selling Nvidia's B200 chips to suppliers of data centers that serve Chinese AI groups, the report said, adding that those chips are more advanced than Nvidia's H20s, which the Trump administration restricted in April (see 2504160026). Contracts reviewed by the Financial Times for sales during that time period showed shipments "estimated to be more than" $1 billion.
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An Nvidia spokesperson said in a July 24 statement that "trying to cobble together datacenters from smuggled products is a losing proposition, both technically and economically. Datacenters require service and support, which we provide only to authorized NVIDIA products."
A Commerce Department spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment.