Northwestern Polytechnical University, a Chinese institution with deep military research ties and a listing on the US trade blacklist, purchased two Nvidia H200 AI chips from a local supplier in October, according to purchase records. The transaction shows how advanced American chips continue to reach Chinese buyers despite Washington's restrictions on their sale.

The university paid 874,700 yuan (about $123,000) for the two chips, according to a notice posted on its website on October 21 and first reported by Reuters. The chips were bought for the university's management department from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology, a local company, meaning the institution did not acquire them directly from Nvidia.

The US Commerce Department placed the Xi'an-based university on its trade blacklist in 2001 over claims that it was involved in spreading missile technology. The blacklist, formally known as the Entity List, is administered by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which decides whether US-made goods can be shipped to listed organizations. Washington tightened the rules in 2019, meaning most requests to export US products to the university are now rejected.

The university is also one of China's “Seven Sons of National Defense,” a group of schools known for their military research. It carries out research on military aircraft, missiles, and satellites.

Rented servers filled with restricted chips

The university's access to restricted hardware was not limited to outright purchases. Short-term server rentals are a common way for organizations to gain AI computing capacity, since they provide access to high-end chips without an outright hardware purchase. In January, its cybersecurity department signed two seven-month contracts worth 441,700 yuan and 441,000 yuan. Each contract gave the university access to a server equipped with eight Nvidia H200 chips, which were used to improve AI models and train them using reinforcement learning.

The same department also rented servers fitted with eight Nvidia A100 chips and eight A800 chips, both of which the US has banned from sale to customers in China. The A800 was originally built by Nvidia as a China-market version of the A100 designed to comply with earlier export limits, before Washington restricted it as well. In April, another research institute at the university paid 375,000 yuan to use at least 24 A100 chips, which were used to study how structures and fluids behave.

Records show other Chinese universities bought restricted chips

Reuters reviewed 26 purchase and company records from 2026 and found that several other Chinese universities had also bought Nvidia chips that are banned from sale to China through local suppliers. Shenzhen University purchased three H100 chips for 769,800 yuan in September. In June, Wuhan University of Technology paid 355,000 yuan for a server containing an H100 chip, and in a separate deal bought four A100 chips for 344,000 yuan. In April, Beihang University bought four A800 chips for 489,000 yuan. The school is also one of China's “Seven Sons of National Defense” and contributes to the country's aircraft, space, and military research.

Nvidia, Northwestern Polytechnical University, and the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security did not reply when Reuters asked for comment. Reuters also said it could not find a way to contact Shaanxi Bosuan.

Spying scandal complicates Huang's push for chip sales to China

The records surface as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang faces questions from US lawmakers over his push to ease restrictions on chip sales to China. Huang believes that allowing American companies to keep selling chips to China would help the US stay ahead in AI and keep Chinese customers using American technology. China has long been a significant market for Nvidia's data center chips, and Washington's export controls, tightened in successive rounds since 2022, have cut Chinese customers off from the company's most advanced hardware.

Some lawmakers from both parties see the issue differently. They worry that China could use the chips to develop better weapons, gather intelligence, and strengthen its military. Some are also calling for tougher rules and closer checks on where the chips end up.

In January, the Trump administration began allowing some H200 chip sales to China, with each sale requiring separate approval. However, that change did not apply to organizations on the US trade blacklist, including Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Huang has also come under further scrutiny after reports linked him to Alice Huang, a former executive at a Singapore-based data center company who has been accused of spying for Beijing. On November 8, Jensen Huang admitted to having an affair, and Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation the same day to determine whether a foreign intelligence agency had targeted him. Huang, 63, holds citizenship in both Taiwan and the United States.

Republican Senator Kevin Cramer told Politico that Huang “has got to go,” citing the “potential for extortion.” Three Republican committee chairmen have also asked Huang to attend a briefing on November 18.