China Warns US Against Tighter Chip Sanctions Following Nvidia Technology Dispute

Beijing has warned Washington against tightening restrictions on semiconductor exports following reports that a Chinese company acquired restricted Nvidia artificial intelligence chips. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stated on Friday that China opposed "the abuse of export control measures", arguing that espionage allegations were being used as a pretext for a technological blockade against Beijing. Chinese authorities have denied claims that the executive involved in the matter acted on behalf of Chinese intelligence.

The warning followed a Bloomberg News report indicating that Shanghai Longteng Intelligent Computing had obtained servers containing Nvidia H800 chips, citing documents submitted to the Chinese government. The firm was established by Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed. According to an unnamed source, the hardware was originally purchased from Dell Technologies by Aperia Cloud Services, an official Nvidia partner in Singapore. Washington prohibited exports of the H800 chip to China in 2023, and it remains unconfirmed how Shanghai Longteng acquired the equipment or whether Alice Huang was directly involved.

In Washington, pressure from lawmakers to enact stricter limits on semiconductor equipment sales has increased. US House Speaker Mike Johnson voiced support for further export restrictions, stating there was a "developing consensus in Congress." The discussions follow a reported US intelligence memorandum alleging that Alice Huang was an asset for China's Ministry of State Security, alongside questions regarding whether the US Commerce Department under Howard Lutnick acted on suspicions that Megaspeed was rerouting restricted technology. Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday after acknowledging extramarital affairs, including one reportedly involving Alice Huang, to whom he is not related.

Investigations into compliance and distribution channels are proceeding in multiple jurisdictions. Megaspeed stated that it is currently investigating whether it complied with export control regulations, while authorities in Malaysia are probing one of the firm's subsidiaries regarding the possible diversion of advanced artificial intelligence hardware. The dispute comes prior to an expected meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com