I came across an investigation by *The New York Times*: after the Trump administration approved H200 sales to China, the Commerce Department reportedly approved around two dozen Chinese companies to buy or assemble them. One assembler, called New Matrix, listed an address in a Beijing industrial park—but when Times reporters visited, they found an empty shell of a factory, with wires still hanging out. The property manager said no such company existed.

Even more striking is the ownership: New Matrix’s owner is reportedly linked to Wise Road, a Chinese private equity firm added to the Entity List in 2024. Another company, Maginfra, also turned out to be an empty office, and analysts say it is linked to the Inspur group. A former senior director for China affairs at the White House National Security Council said the due diligence by the Commerce Department and Nvidia was cause for concern.

Nvidia itself says H200 revenue from China would account for less than 1% of its data center business. Its spokesperson also stressed that there is no reason for the military to depend on U.S. technology. But shell companies on the approved list—and links to blacklisted entities—are the weak point in this system of “conditional approval.”
#AI #Nvidia $NVDA #Chips