Blacklisted Chinese Military University Gets Its Hands On Powerful American AI Chips

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.

Northwestern Polytechnical University purchased two Nvidia H200 processors for approximately $123,000 through a domestic Chinese supplier, Reuters reported, citing university procurement records. The discovery raises questions about Washington’s ability to prevent advanced American technology from reaching institutions connected to Beijing’s military modernization 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.

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. Federal officials subsequently strengthened those restrictions, generally denying export licenses for controlled American technology.

However, the university’s access to American computing power extended considerably beyond its latest 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.

Wuhan University of Technology purchased a server containing an Nvidia H100 processor for roughly $50,000 in June, according to its procurement records.

Chinese efforts to acquire American technology stretch back decades. 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.

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. The engineer, Dongfan “Greg” Chung, maintained contact with Chinese officials and collected restricted technical documents over several decades.