A Chinese university with close ties to the country’s defense sector recently purchased advanced artificial intelligence chips from US giant Nvidia, order notices showed, despite strict controls imposed by Washington. China and the United States are engaged in a fierce competition for supremacy in the strategic and rapidly expanding field of artificial intelligence, and Nvidia’s cutting-edge products have become a major point of contention.
Northwest Polytechnic University, located in Xi’an city, purchased two Nvidia H200 chips from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology, not directly from Nvidia, for 874,700 yuan ($131,200), according to an order notice dated October 21. H200 chips are subject to U.S. export controls that limit direct shipments to China and impose some restrictions on their resale around the world.
The H200 chips were purchased for the university’s management school, which is one of China’s so-called “Seven Sons of National Defense” universities, responsible for conducting defense-related research and maintaining ties with the country’s military. The order notice consulted by AFP was no longer accessible on the university website on Thursday.
AFP contacted the university’s management school to react. Another order notice dated September 4, also seen by AFP but which was no longer accessible on Thursday, shows that the university’s cybersecurity school purchased two Nvidia H200 chips for 796,000 yuan ($119,300). AFP contacted the university’s management school and cybersecurity school to react.
The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it was “not aware” of this matter, but reiterated the Chinese position regarding American chip exports. “We firmly oppose the American side overextending the notion of national security, establishing all kinds of discriminatory lists and baselessly repressing Chinese institutions,” said spokesperson Mao Ning during a press briefing.
Nvidia is already in the spotlight this week over its ties to China, after reports that its CEO had an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a Chinese woman accused of spying for Beijing. Mr. Huang, who has a close relationship with US President Donald Trump, publicly admitted his affair with Ms. Huang, an executive at the Singapore-based data center Megaspeed. Nvidia’s board of directors is to meet to discuss Mr. Huang’s future, according to US media.
