Some of China’s most closely watched open-weight AI models appear to have been trained using Nvidia’s Blackwell processors, despite U.S. rules barring those chips from export to China. The finding comes from an analysis of model data that could intensify questions about how effectively Washington’s restrictions are keeping advanced computing power out of Chinese labs.
Will DePue, a former OpenAI researcher who leads the nonprofit Unemployment Labs, examined the internal weights of models released by DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, MiniMax and Ant Group. Those weights can preserve traces of the hardware used during training. DePue says the evidence points to Blackwell chips being used for models including Moonshot’s Kimi K3 releases and DeepSeek’s V4 models. His analysis of the model checkpoints does not establish that the systems were trained entirely on Blackwell processors.
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Nor does a hardware signature alone prove that export laws were broken. Chinese firms have also obtained computing capacity through data centers outside China, including facilities in Malaysia. Estimates from Epoch AI suggest that about two million advanced chips entered China during 2024 and 2025 through efforts to obscure their destination, while roughly 275,000 Nvidia AI accelerators were imported into Malaysia over the same period.
That distinction exposes a weakness in export rules focused primarily on where chips are shipped or installed. The intended purpose of the restrictions is to stop Chinese AI developers from using the most capable processors, but companies may be able to access computing power abroad. Security specialists have argued that controls should account for who uses a chip, not just who owns it or where it sits.
The findings arrive amid a widening controversy over Nvidia’s dealings with Megaspeed, a company led by Alice Huang. Its subsidiary, Speedmatrix, has been linked to chip shipments under investigation in the United States and Singapore. Bloomberg has reported that a company connected to Huang helped move restricted Nvidia processors to a data center in Shanghai.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, left the company this week after acknowledging an affair with Alice Huang, according to the report. She has also been alleged to have ties to Chinese intelligence. The personal connection has drawn attention, but Nvidia could face more serious consequences if investigators establish that prohibited chips were smuggled and that the company or its leadership knew about it. Nvidia and Jensen Huang have previously vouched for Megaspeed’s data centers, saying company representatives visited to verify their legitimacy.
U.S. officials have also raised concerns about Chinese access to restricted processors. White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios said earlier this year that Moonshot had used export-banned Nvidia chips, citing U.S. intelligence. Epoch AI has estimated that approximately two million advanced chips reached China in 2024 and 2025 through schemes intended to conceal their final destination.
The restrictions have shaped a complicated market for Nvidia. The Trump administration permits exports of the less powerful H200 to China under conditions that include a circuitous shipping route and a 25 percent tariff, while Blackwell chips remain barred. A report by short seller Culper Research argued that Nvidia was exposed to Chinese demand through both overseas data centers and illegal shipments, and highlighted Megaspeed’s connections to Chinese firms restricted from buying U.S. chips.
Culper’s bearish view was also tied to the possibility that export limits would push China to accelerate its domestic semiconductor industry. If local manufacturers can meet more of the country’s needs, billions of dollars in potential demand for Nvidia processors could disappear. Meanwhile, about 600,000 H200 chips are reportedly sitting in Hong Kong awaiting approval for shipment into China. Analysts have offered competing explanations for the delay, including possible trade negotiations and concerns about surveillance capabilities in the hardware.
The U.S. government’s oversight is under scrutiny as well. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose department oversees export licensing, could face pressure over reports that investigators missed suspicious buyers and maintained overly close relationships with Nvidia officials. At present, U.S. companies have limited obligations to monitor how customers use controlled goods after purchase, leaving regulators to determine whether foreign data centers and intermediary firms have become a route around export restrictions.
