What changed
Northwestern Polytechnical University bought two Nvidia H200 chips through Chinese supplier Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology in October for 874,700 yuan ($123,000), despite being on the US Entity List. The PLA-linked university also obtained H200 and other Nvidia computing capacity through five rental contracts with Chinese companies this year.
Why it matters
The purchase exposes a simple weakness in a complicated export-control system: blocking a university from buying directly does not necessarily stop it from finding computing power inside China.
Northwestern Polytechnical conducts research tied to military aircraft, missiles and satellites. The H200 is one of Nvidia’s most capable chips for training and running advanced AI systems, and exports to the university would normally require a US licence that is generally denied.
The records do not establish how the chips entered China or whether export-control rules were violated. They do show that domestic suppliers can become the route around restrictions, either by selling chips outright or by renting access to servers that contain them.
That puts pressure on Washington’s current approach. The US has been weighing tighter controls, including chip-tracking requirements and greater congressional oversight, while Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has argued that continued sales could keep Chinese customers dependent on American technology. Three Republican committee chairmen have asked Huang to brief them on November 18.
The immediate question is no longer only whether a blacklisted institution can place an order with Nvidia. It is whether controls can follow the chip after it passes into a domestic supply chain.
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