NVIDIA’s H100 AI GPUs Ends Up In The Hands of Chinese Researchers Despite Harsh Regulations

Nations barred from accessing NVIDIA's high-end AI chips seem to have discovered a workaround, as it is reported that Chinese researchers have used the H100s for multiple experiments.

The new US policy refrains the "technology transfer" into hostile countries like China through every means possible, and just recently, the Biden administration imposed harsh regulations on the export of AI GPUs to prevent the rapid development of Chinese AI infrastructure.

However, despite employing such strategies, it is reported that the US administration might find itself running into loopholes in its trade policy, as The Telegraph has disclosed that researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have reportedly utilized NVIDIA's H100 AI GPUs in multiple experiments, suggesting that the new regulations might not be much effective.

Four academic papers published on an "open access" science website, ArXiv, have disclosed this information, and the study includes the use of AI accelerators in solving complex mathematical and logical problems. It is said that researchers were able to get a hold of eight or fewer of NVIDIA's H100s, which certainly isn't a huge number, but it does raise questions on the implementation of the US regulations. However, it isn't sure whether the individuals involved in the research have procured new units of H100s or have done their research on existing SKUs in the markets since NVIDIA's Hopper GPU was being sold until the ban came into effect.

We can't be confident about how these GPUs end up in the first place in China, but our best bet is likely outsourcing from US-compliant nations, such as the Middle East. We did see a similar instance with the Chinese-origin firm TuSimple, where the US Government intervened in the sales of NVIDIA's A100 to the company, citing a potential technology transfer. As TuSimple ordered the GPUs from a subsidiary in Australia, they could not place the order until the Biden administration vetoed it.

Blocking off access to a crucial component required by the AI industry isn't an easy task for the US, and even after robust implementation, individuals or blacklisted firms would find certain loopholes in the policies imposed, ultimately creating another alarming situation for the government.