China Secretly Smuggling Nvidia’s AI Chips 

A Chinese student is taking part of big group of buyers and sellers to Chinese smuggle Nvidia chips bypassing restrictions imposed by the U.S. 

According to a report covering the story by the Wall Street Journal, this incident occurred when 26-years old Chinese smuggle student found among his packings six advanced AI chips manufactured by Nvidia. Apparently, the student was going back from Singapore to China and was asked by a group from college to pack them to China. The student also said that he was gaining $100 on every chip. 

A Secret Network  

The student was taking part of a huge network that includes buyers, sellers, as well as couriers that collaborating with each other to bypass the restrictions imposed by the Biden Administration on the export of advanced technology to China. 

According to WSJ, this network includes over 70 online distributors that are publicly promoting the allegedly restricted chips. The newspaper was able to reach out to 25 sellers and found out that they are well known for holding dozens of cutting-edge Nvidia chips. And, due to the high demand, some sellers may take preorders and guarantee delivery within weeks. Others also offer complete servers that are equipped with multiple chips from Nvidia at a price of $ 300,000. 

Nvidia is known for its powerful chips that are used for the operation of AI systems. However, Nvidia and other of its partners, such as Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computers are complying with the controls on exports by the U.S. They often order a higher quantity of chips than required just to avoid manufacturing problems or unexpected rises in demands. But once these chips are out of their companies, they have no longer the ability to trace the buyers. 

China’s Ongoing Efforts to Lead in AI 

Despite the very tight restrictions imposed by the Biden Administration on China regarding their reach to American technology, Chinese research institutes are still being able to purchase Nvidia’s high-end AI chips in limited quantities. While other companies like Huawei are working on the development of chips that are as capable as those of Nvidia. 

Meanwhile, commenting on the incident of bringing these chips to China, the Chinese smuggle student behind it stated, “I’m glad I was able to do something for my country—and make a little extra money.” 

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