### Chinese Military-Tied University Bought Banned Nvidia H200 Chips Through Local Supplier

A Chinese university with military ties, Northwestern Polytechnical University, purchased two Nvidia H200 AI chips last month for $123,000 through a domestic supplier despite being on the US Entity List, procurement records show, exposing gaps in US export controls. The university, sanctioned since 2001 for missile and military research, bought the chips for its management school from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology, not Nvidia directly. It also secured five contracts this year to rent computing capacity with H200 and other restricted Nvidia processors. The purchases highlight a broader pattern, with a Reuters review finding 26 Chinese universities and institutions acquiring restricted Nvidia chips or computing services through domestic suppliers. The news comes as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang faces congressional scrutiny over his lobbying for looser AI chip export restrictions to China.