Blacklisted PLA-Linked Chinese University Bought Two Nvidia H200 Chips Through a Reseller, Procurement Record Shows

Since Jensen Huang came under scrutiny in Washington over his reported contacts with an alleged Chinese intelligence operative, a new Reuters exclusive has put a second problem on Nvidia's doorstep: its top-end chips showing up at a blacklisted Chinese military university.

Northwestern Polytechnical University bought two Nvidia H200 chips last month for 874,700 yuan, about $123,000, according to an Oct. 21 procurement record posted on the school's own website. The chips were bought for its management school.

The seller was Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology, not Nvidia. Reuters said it could not find contact details for the company.

Who Northwestern Polytechnical is

The university sits in Xi'an and does research tied to military aircraft, missiles and satellites. It belongs to China's "Seven Sons of National Defense," a group of elite defense-focused universities.

The Commerce Department put it on the Entity List in 2001 over alleged involvement in missile-proliferation activities and military research. In 2019, Washington tightened the restrictions so that export licenses for controlled US technology to the school are subject to a policy of denial in most circumstances.

The H200 is among Nvidia's most capable chips for training and running advanced AI systems. It requires US export license approval, and those licenses are normally denied for institutions like this one.

Rented computing as well

The purchase is not the only route. Reuters reported that Northwestern Polytechnical also bought access this year to H200 chips and other powerful Nvidia processors through five contracts for rented computing capacity from Chinese companies, based on procurement records.

The sources do not say who owns the hardware behind those rentals or how it got into China. They also do not say how Shaanxi Bosuan obtained the two H200s it sold.

Northwestern Polytechnical, Nvidia and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security did not respond to requests for comment. No investigation, charge or enforcement action tied to the purchase has been announced. Nothing in the record alleges that Nvidia sold the chips to the school or knew where they ended up.

The Washington backdrop

Huang has long argued that continued US sales to China preserve American technological leadership and keep Chinese customers dependent on US technology. That is his stated position, and the purchase does not by itself show that the argument is wrong. It does show that chips are reaching a buyer the US government has tried to cut off.

Some US lawmakers take the opposite view. They say access to Nvidia's most powerful chips can speed China's development of AI systems for weapons design, intelligence analysis and military modernization.

Both parties have pushed for tighter controls. Democrats and Republicans in Congress have urged measures such as chip-tracking requirements and more congressional oversight of exports.

Three Republican committee chairmen have requested a briefing with Huang on Nov. 18 over his reported contacts with the alleged operative. The reports say Huang was targeted by a Chinese spying operation, and he has not been charged with anything.

What to watch

The open questions are specific. Did Shaanxi Bosuan get the chips from a licensed channel, a third country or somewhere else? Will the Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls, say anything about a reseller selling restricted hardware to an entity under a denial policy?

The Nov. 18 briefing is the next fixed date. Lawmakers who want chip-tracking requirements now have a concrete, documented purchase to point to when they question Huang.