BEIJING: Chinese military our bodies, state-run synthetic intelligence analysis institutes and universities have over the previous yr bought small batches of Nvidia semiconductors banned by the US from export to China, a Reuters evaluation of tender paperwork present.
The gross sales by largely unknown Chinese suppliers spotlight the difficulties Washington faces, despite its bans, in fully chopping off China’s entry to superior US chips that would gas breakthroughs in AI and refined computer systems for its military.
Buying or promoting high-end US chips just isn’t unlawful in China and the publicly out there tender paperwork present dozens of Chinese entities have purchased and taken receipt of Nvidia semiconductors since restrictions have been imposed.
These embody its A100 and the extra highly effective H100 chip – whose exports to China and Hong Kong have been banned in September 2022 – in addition to the slower A800 and H800 chips Nvidia then developed for the Chinese market however which have been additionally banned final October.
The graphic processing models – a kind of chip – which can be constructed by Nvidia are broadly seen as far superior to rival merchandise for AI work as they’ll extra effectively course of enormous quantities of knowledge wanted for machine-learning duties.
The continued demand for and entry to banned Nvidia chips additionally underlines the shortage of fine alternate options for Chinese companies despite the nascent improvement of rival merchandise from Huawei and others. Prior to the bans, Nvidia commanded a 90% share of China’s AI chip market.
Purchasers included elite universities in addition to two entities topic to US export restrictions – the Harbin Institute of Technology and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, which have been accused of involvement in military issues or being affiliated to a military physique opposite to US nationwide curiosity.
The former bought six Nvidia A100 chips in May to coach a deep-learning mannequin. The latter bought one A100 in December 2022. Its objective was not recognized.
None of the purchasers talked about on this article responded to requests for remark.
The Reuters evaluation discovered neither Nvidia nor retailers authorised by the corporate have been among the many suppliers recognized. It was not clear how the suppliers have procured their Nvidia chips.
In the wake of US curbs, nonetheless, an underground marketplace for such chips in China has sprung up. Chinese distributors have beforehand mentioned they snatch up extra inventory that finds its strategy to the market after Nvidia ships giant portions to massive US companies, or import by way of firms domestically included in locations similar to India, Taiwan and Singapore.
Reuters sought remark from 10 of the suppliers listed in tender paperwork together with these talked about on this article – none of them answered.
Nvidia mentioned it complies with all relevant export management legal guidelines and requires its prospects to do the identical.
“If we learn that a customer has made an unlawful resale to third parties, we’ll take immediate and appropriate action,” an organization spokesperson mentioned.
The US Department of Commerce declined to remark. US authorities have vowed to shut loopholes within the export restrictions and have moved to restrict entry to the chips by models of Chinese firms situated outdoors China.
Chris Miller, professor at Tufts University and creator of “Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology”, mentioned it was unrealistic to assume US export restrictions may very well be watertight on condition that chips are small and can simply be smuggled.
The primary intention is “to throw sand in the gears of China’s AI development” by making it tough to construct giant clusters of superior chips able to coaching AI techniques, he added.
Military, AI consumers
The evaluation contains greater than 100 tenders the place state entities have procured A100 chips and dozens of tenders for the reason that October ban present purchases of the A800.
Tenders revealed final month additionally present Tsinghua University procured two H100 chips whereas a laboratory run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology procured one.
The consumers embody one unnamed People’s Liberation Army entity based mostly within the metropolis of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in keeping with tenders from a military database. It sought 3 A100 chips in October and one H100 chip this month.
Military tenders in China are sometimes closely redacted and Reuters was not capable of study who received the bids or the explanation for the acquisition.
Most tenders present the chips are getting used for AI. The portions of most purchases are, nonetheless, very small, removed from what’s wanted to construct a classy AI giant language mannequin from scratch.
A mannequin just like OpenAI’s GPT would require greater than 30,000 Nvidia A100 playing cards, in keeping with analysis agency TrendForce. But a handful can run complicated machine-learning duties and improve present AI fashions.
In one instance, the Shandong Artificial Intelligence Institute awarded a 290,000 yuan ($40,500) contract for five A100 chips to Shandong Chengxiang Electronic Technology final month.
Many of the tenders stipulate suppliers should ship and set up the merchandise earlier than receiving cost. Most universities additionally revealed notices displaying the transaction was accomplished.
Tsinghua University, dubbed China’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a prolific issuer of tenders and has bought some 80 A100 chips for the reason that 2022 ban.
In December, Chongqing University revealed a young for one A100 chip that explicitly said it couldn’t be second-hand or disassembled however needed to be “brand new”. The supply was accomplished this month, a discover confirmed.
($1 = 7.1592 Chinese yuan)
The gross sales by largely unknown Chinese suppliers spotlight the difficulties Washington faces, despite its bans, in fully chopping off China’s entry to superior US chips that would gas breakthroughs in AI and refined computer systems for its military.
Buying or promoting high-end US chips just isn’t unlawful in China and the publicly out there tender paperwork present dozens of Chinese entities have purchased and taken receipt of Nvidia semiconductors since restrictions have been imposed.
These embody its A100 and the extra highly effective H100 chip – whose exports to China and Hong Kong have been banned in September 2022 – in addition to the slower A800 and H800 chips Nvidia then developed for the Chinese market however which have been additionally banned final October.
The graphic processing models – a kind of chip – which can be constructed by Nvidia are broadly seen as far superior to rival merchandise for AI work as they’ll extra effectively course of enormous quantities of knowledge wanted for machine-learning duties.
The continued demand for and entry to banned Nvidia chips additionally underlines the shortage of fine alternate options for Chinese companies despite the nascent improvement of rival merchandise from Huawei and others. Prior to the bans, Nvidia commanded a 90% share of China’s AI chip market.
Purchasers included elite universities in addition to two entities topic to US export restrictions – the Harbin Institute of Technology and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, which have been accused of involvement in military issues or being affiliated to a military physique opposite to US nationwide curiosity.
The former bought six Nvidia A100 chips in May to coach a deep-learning mannequin. The latter bought one A100 in December 2022. Its objective was not recognized.
None of the purchasers talked about on this article responded to requests for remark.
The Reuters evaluation discovered neither Nvidia nor retailers authorised by the corporate have been among the many suppliers recognized. It was not clear how the suppliers have procured their Nvidia chips.
In the wake of US curbs, nonetheless, an underground marketplace for such chips in China has sprung up. Chinese distributors have beforehand mentioned they snatch up extra inventory that finds its strategy to the market after Nvidia ships giant portions to massive US companies, or import by way of firms domestically included in locations similar to India, Taiwan and Singapore.
Reuters sought remark from 10 of the suppliers listed in tender paperwork together with these talked about on this article – none of them answered.
Nvidia mentioned it complies with all relevant export management legal guidelines and requires its prospects to do the identical.
“If we learn that a customer has made an unlawful resale to third parties, we’ll take immediate and appropriate action,” an organization spokesperson mentioned.
The US Department of Commerce declined to remark. US authorities have vowed to shut loopholes within the export restrictions and have moved to restrict entry to the chips by models of Chinese firms situated outdoors China.
Chris Miller, professor at Tufts University and creator of “Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology”, mentioned it was unrealistic to assume US export restrictions may very well be watertight on condition that chips are small and can simply be smuggled.
The primary intention is “to throw sand in the gears of China’s AI development” by making it tough to construct giant clusters of superior chips able to coaching AI techniques, he added.
Military, AI consumers
The evaluation contains greater than 100 tenders the place state entities have procured A100 chips and dozens of tenders for the reason that October ban present purchases of the A800.
Tenders revealed final month additionally present Tsinghua University procured two H100 chips whereas a laboratory run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology procured one.
The consumers embody one unnamed People’s Liberation Army entity based mostly within the metropolis of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in keeping with tenders from a military database. It sought 3 A100 chips in October and one H100 chip this month.
Military tenders in China are sometimes closely redacted and Reuters was not capable of study who received the bids or the explanation for the acquisition.
Most tenders present the chips are getting used for AI. The portions of most purchases are, nonetheless, very small, removed from what’s wanted to construct a classy AI giant language mannequin from scratch.
A mannequin just like OpenAI’s GPT would require greater than 30,000 Nvidia A100 playing cards, in keeping with analysis agency TrendForce. But a handful can run complicated machine-learning duties and improve present AI fashions.
In one instance, the Shandong Artificial Intelligence Institute awarded a 290,000 yuan ($40,500) contract for five A100 chips to Shandong Chengxiang Electronic Technology final month.
Many of the tenders stipulate suppliers should ship and set up the merchandise earlier than receiving cost. Most universities additionally revealed notices displaying the transaction was accomplished.
Tsinghua University, dubbed China’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a prolific issuer of tenders and has bought some 80 A100 chips for the reason that 2022 ban.
In December, Chongqing University revealed a young for one A100 chip that explicitly said it couldn’t be second-hand or disassembled however needed to be “brand new”. The supply was accomplished this month, a discover confirmed.
($1 = 7.1592 Chinese yuan)
