A Chinese university closely tied to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) purchased powerful American artificial intelligence chips despite spending more than two decades on a U.S. export blacklist.
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university → tie → blacklist
Northwestern Polytechnical University purchased two Nvidia H200 processors for approximately $123,000 through a domestic Chinese supplier, Reuters reported, citing university procurement records.
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Reuters → purchase → records
The discovery raises questions about Washington’s ability to prevent advanced American technology from reaching institutions connected to Beijing’s military modernization efforts.
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discovery → raise → efforts
The university, located in Xi’an, belongs to China’s so-called “Seven Sons of National Defense,” a collection of universities conducting extensive military-related research, including work on aircraft, missiles and satellites, Reuters reported.
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Reuters → locate → aircraft
Washington first blacklisted Northwestern Polytechnical in 2001 over its alleged involvement in missile proliferation and military research, according to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.
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Washington → blacklist → List
Federal officials subsequently strengthened those restrictions, generally denying export licenses for controlled American technology.
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officials → strengthen → technology
(RELATED: US Army Practices Island Warfare As China’s Shadow Looms Large Over Pacific)
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Shadow → practice → Pacific
However, the university’s access to American computing power extended considerably beyond its latest purchase.
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access → extend → purchase
An examination of 26 Chinese procurement and corporate records identified multiple universities and research institutions purchasing restricted American processors or renting access to Nvidia-powered computing systems, Reuters reported.
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Reuters → identify → systems
Wuhan University of Technology purchased a server containing an Nvidia H100 processor for roughly $50,000 in June, according to its procurement records.
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University → purchase → records
Chinese efforts to acquire American technology stretch back decades.
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efforts → acquire → technology
Two Chinese-born engineers were arrested in 2001 while attempting to board a flight to China carrying stolen semiconductor trade secrets belonging to Sun Microsystems and Transmeta, later pleading guilty to economic espionage, according to the Justice Department.
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engineers → bear → Department
A former Boeing engineer was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison in 2010 for stealing American aerospace technology, including information concerning the Space Shuttle and Delta IV rocket, for the Chinese government, according to the Justice Department.
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engineer → sentence → Department
The engineer, Dongfan “Greg” Chung, maintained contact with Chinese officials and collected restricted technical documents over several decades.
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engineer → maintain → decades
Another Chinese national was convicted in 2020 of stealing semiconductor trade secrets from American technology companies Avago and Skyworks to benefit Beijing, according to the Justice Department.
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national → convict → Department
The individual, Hao Zhang, worked with Tianjin University to obtain proprietary technology used in wireless communications.
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individual → work → communications
A former General Electric engineer was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023 after conspiring to steal proprietary turbine technology for Chinese companies and research institutions, according to the Justice Department.
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engineer → sentence → Department
The engineer, Xiaoqing Zheng, exploited his access to American industrial technology to support Chinese interests.
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engineer → exploit → interests
Beijing’s alleged intelligence operations have also extended into American politics.
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operations → allege → politics
A suspected Chinese operative known as Fang Fang, or Christine Fang, cultivated relationships with California politicians, helped raise funds for Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign and assisted in placing an intern in his congressional office, Axios reported, citing U.S. intelligence officials.
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Axios → suspect → officials
The FBI warned Swalwell about Fang in 2015, after which he severed contact with her, according to Axios.
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he → warn → Axios
Swalwell was never accused of wrongdoing, and the House Ethics Committee closed its investigation into his interactions with Fang without taking further action in 2023, according to the committee’s letter.
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Committee → accuse → letter
A similar controversy has now engulfed Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who acknowledged an extramarital affair following reports that a Chinese businesswoman he had developed a relationship with was recruited by Beijing’s intelligence services to collect information about him, according to the New York Times.
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he → engulf → Times
The woman, Alice Huang, previously worked as an executive at Singapore-based computing company Megaspeed, an Nvidia cloud partner.
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woman → work → Megaspeed
Nvidia’s board launched an independent investigation into whether its chief executive was targeted by Chinese intelligence, although it said there was no reason to believe American national security information or company secrets had been compromised, according to the company’s Nov. 8 statement.
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information → launch → statement
Three Republican congressional chairmen separately requested a closed-door briefing concerning Huang’s interactions with Alice Huang and potential espionage vulnerabilities, according to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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chairmen → request → Committee
The Trump administration relaxed certain restrictions on H200 exports to China in January, allowing American officials to consider licenses individually rather than automatically rejecting applications, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
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officials → relax → Industry
However, that policy did not eliminate restrictions on blacklisted Chinese institutions or military end-users, according to the agency’s export regulations.
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policy → eliminate → regulations
The department argued that permitting carefully controlled semiconductor exports would strengthen American technological leadership while maintaining national security protections, according to the agency’s announcement.
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permitting → argue → announcement
(RELATED: China Makes 100 Drones For Every One Built In US As Pentagon Scrambles To Catch Up)
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Pentagon → make → US
“Permitting the sale of the H200 to China under controlled conditions will strengthen the American technology ecosystem,” Under Secretary for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler said in the announcement.
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Kessler → permit → announcement
The findings arrive as American lawmakers scrutinize Nvidia’s push to loosen semiconductor restrictions on China, amid concerns that advanced AI computing could accelerate Beijing’s weapons development and intelligence capabilities, Reuters reported.
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Reuters → arrive → development
Three Republican congressional committee chairmen have requested a November 18 briefing with Nvidia’s chief executive over separate allegations involving a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, according to Reuters.
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chairmen → request → Reuters
The investigation did not establish where the purchased processors originated, whether the transactions violated American law or whether the hardware was used for military purposes.
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hardware → establish → purposes
The Aporia
