Nvidia H200 Approval Goes to Chinese Firm With No Visible Office

Efforts to verify the company came up empty

The New York Times found that attempts to confirm the company's existence produced nothing concrete. Its name does not appear in the directory of the building it lists as its headquarters, and employees and officials at a neighboring property management firm said they hold no records of it.

Concern is heightened by the owners' links to a private Chinese investment firm that Washington has had on its blacklist since 2024. That raises the question of how a company with such ties received approval to buy advanced chips that are restricted for US national security reasons.

A pattern, not a one-off

The report suggests this is not a minor administrative slip. It points to a pattern of approvals for companies connected to Chinese entities already subject to US sanctions and trade restrictions, fueling fears that export controls could be circumvented.

The United States imposed strict limits on Nvidia chip exports to China under President Joe Biden. The Trump administration later eased some of them, after Nvidia agreed to give the US government 15% of revenue from certain sales. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has meanwhile stepped up lobbying for looser export rules amid intensifying technology competition between Washington and Beijing.

The case reopens the debate over oversight of advanced semiconductor exports, at a time when AI chips are central to global competition and there are worries that such technology could reach parties that may threaten American security interests.