China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has attempted to procure Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips more than 500 times, according to a new analysis. Chinese military universities have also sought to obtain Nvidia's latest AI chips, contradicting Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's assertion that "the Chinese military does not rely on our chips."
According to a report by Chinese corporate intelligence firm Wirescreen obtained by The New York Times on Saturday, the PLA has sought to procure Nvidia chips by specifying product names or technical specifications over a six-year period beginning in 2019. More than 500 of the 3,800 Chinese procurement records contained such requirements.
The chips requested by the PLA ranged from lower-end to relatively advanced models, including Nvidia's A100, A800, H100 and H800. Although the US government restricted exports to China in 2022 and 2023, procurement attempts have continued until recently. The units seeking the chips were also diverse, spanning a wide range of fields including nuclear explosion simulation, offensive cyber operations and war-gaming (military exercises that simulate warfare on computers). China's cyber forces, which handle cyber warfare, reconnaissance and domestic surveillance, were identified as the unit that purchased the most US-made AI technology.
John Costello, the Wirescreen analyst who wrote the report, said, "This makes it irrefutable that US technology is arming the Chinese military." The PLA was also found to have developed an adaptation strategy over a year to circumvent US export controls. It lowered technical specifications and mobilized various new channels ranging from established technology companies to shell companies to conceal the military's role. The report has also been delivered to the US administration and Congress.
Nvidia immediately pushed back. Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo said in a statement, "Advanced AI systems typically run on networks of 100,000 or more chips." The number of chips requested by the PLA in Wirescreen's data was smaller than that. "As Chinese technological capabilities have improved, the Chinese military appears to be focusing on Huawei chips," Rizzo said. "The claim that they rely on US technology is silly and untrue."
Huang has also called for easing regulations so that Nvidia can sell its chips in China, the world's largest semiconductor market. Bloomberg reported that he lobbied during the recent US-China summit for the United States to allow Nvidia chip exports to China. In an interview with CNN last year, Huang responded to concerns that the PLA was using advanced US AI chips by saying, "China has sufficient computing power," and that it would not be a problem. His argument served as the basis for US President Donald Trump's decision to allow the sale of Nvidia's latest H200 chip to China.
However, with evidence emerging that not only the PLA but also Chinese military universities have sought to procure Nvidia's AI chips, the credibility of Nvidia's claims has taken a hit. Bloomberg reported that at least seven Chinese universities supporting the PLA and the defense industry are pursuing H200 chips. Universities that have shown interest in the H200 include Beihang University and Northwestern Polytechnical University, both on the US Commerce Department's blacklist.
After Trump approved the exports, the US Congress put the brakes on by introducing a bill to strip the White House of unilateral decision-making authority. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said, "This report shows that China is trying to smuggle and steal US technology for military purposes." He stressed, "Export controls are necessary to maintain our edge in the AI race and to avoid arming China."
Accordingly, the "AI Oversight Act," which would require the Commerce Department to certify that AI chips are not being used for military purposes by adversarial nations and grant Congress the authority to block chip exports, is set to be put to a floor vote.
