Chinese university with military ties acquires Nvidia H200 chips despite US ban

A Chinese university with military ties purchased Nvidia's H200 AI chips last month despite being on a US export blacklist, according to procurement records. Northwestern Polytechnical University bought two chips for $123,000 from a domestic supplier. The university, part of China's defense-focused "Seven Sons" group, acquired the chips for its management school from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology. It also rented H200 computing capacity through five contracts this year, despite US restrictions normally denying such exports to blacklisted institutions. The purchase comes as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang faces scrutiny over lobbying for looser AI chip sales to China and alleged ties to a Chinese intelligence operative. US lawmakers warn such chips could accelerate China's military AI development.