The United States, under both the Biden and Trump administrations, has imposed multiple rounds of restrictions on China"s access to advanced AI chips from Nvidia and AMD, citing national security concerns and the risk of military applications. Nonetheless, China"s military has reportedly been attempting to acquire Nvidia"s AI chips for use in servers and even in a robotic dog.
Business Insider claims to have reviewed records from the official portal of China"s People"s Liberation Army (PLA), where military units submit equipment requests open to bids from local contractors.
The outlet reports that multiple procurement requests on the portal reference Nvidia products, including the highly sought-after H20 AI chips. Three requests on the portal reportedly demanded at least eight Nvidia H20 chips for a system capable of running DeepSeek-R1 671B, one of the company"s most advanced and powerful models.
Another procurement request refers to a so-called "intelligent decision-making" support system, which specified the need for four RTX 6000 graphics cards. The system is reportedly capable of running DeepSeek.
Additional requests called for H100 graphics cards, with conditions that they be delivered in their original packaging and installed on-site. The sale of both RTX 6000 and H100 chips to China is prohibited under US export ban.
Moreover, the Chinese military reportedly sought access to Nvidia"s Jetson computing module for use in a 33-pound robotic dog as part of a pilot project. However, the request was later withdrawn. It remains unclear whether China has been able to obtain Nvidia products for military purposes, but the country may have multiple avenues for acquiring them.
In response to the recent controversy, an Nvidia spokesperson told Business Insider that China has "more than enough" domestic chips for its military purposes and that "buying a handful of older products to test the US competition is not a national security concern."
The spokesperson also added, "Using restricted products for military applications would be a nonstarter, without support, software, or maintenance."
News of the Chinese military"s interest in acquiring Nvidia chips emerged just days after the country"s regulator launched an investigation into the company over suspicions of a backdoor in its H20 chips.