The co-founder of a Chinese AI startup has apparently "mocked" the effectiveness of the US restrictions on Beijing by showing the "restricted" NVIDIA H100 and H200 AI accelerators.
China Still Has Access To NVIDIA's AI Hardware Through Trade "Loopholes," Combating Against US Restrictions
US-China trade policies have seen massive conflicts in the past few months, especially with the debut of the "AI hype," which forced both countries to implement rapid measures to benefit from the technology. Given the US's technological superiority, the nation implemented harsh policies to restrict the "transfer of equipment" such as AI accelerators and servers to China, but despite that, many individuals and organizations have managed to find workarounds, raising questions about the effectiveness of the policies.
🚨 Loopholes in US export control 🚨
In two videos posted on his Douyin account from 🇨🇳 Guangdong on Nov 28 and 29 respectively, cofounder of Beijing-based startup incubator Kun Lun Nest (昆仑巢) 🇨🇳 Su Di (苏菂), who previously founded incubator/cafe Garage Coffee (车库咖啡) in… pic.twitter.com/YGbJzjNMU5
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) December 9, 2024
The two clips attached to the posts (via Bryon_Wan) show that the individual has managed to access NVIDIA's Hopper AI accelerators despite them being banned from exporting to China. Upon further inspection, it seems like the individual has access to SuperMicro's AI server racks as well, which shows that the US restrictions haven't worked out too well, and organizations in China still have access to cutting-edge US technology, of course, through trade loopholes which we'll discuss next.
The startup co-founder says that many more units of NVIDIA's H100/H200 AI GPUs are coming as well and that the supply chain isn't having any issues with bulk orders. While China is barred from importing cutting-edge AI equipment, the nation has found workarounds. That includes sourcing equipment from countries like Malaysia and Singapore, which already have access to NVIDIA's top-end AI accelerators, and interestingly, this is completely legal.
The policy adopted by the Biden administration to thwart AI developments in China hasn't worked out at all and, instead, has fueled growth given that domestic alternatives are popping up in the markets and that, through loopholes, Chinese organizations are already keeping up with their computational needs. The only way to restrict technology transfer on a wider level is by adopting stricter measures on the whole supply chain, but even with this, the global AI markets cannot ignore the significance of China.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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