China: a university linked to the army bought Nvidia chips despite American restrictions
The establishment acquired four H200 artificial intelligence chips from a Chinese supplier, according to order notices consulted by AFP, which have since been removed from its website.
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.
Order notices removed 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 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. Nvidia is already in the spotlight this week over its ties to China, after reports that its CEO had an extramarital affair with a woman accused of spying for Beijing. Jensen Huang, who maintains a close relationship with US President Donald Trump, publicly admitted his affair with Alice Huang, a senior executive at Singapore-based data center Megaspeed.
Nvidia's board of directors is to meet to discuss the future of Jensen Huang, according to US media.
Machine-translated from French
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- Le Figaro12 Nov, 07:54
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