The US Commerce Department has approved sales of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to Chinese companies with ties to blacklisted entities, raising questions about vetting procedures, according to a New York Times investigation reported by The Verge.
One approved buyer, New Matrix, operates from what the Times describes as an empty office—“a hollow gray shell with wires dangling from the ceiling where lights should be.” The Times found scant online information about the company, which was created 17 months ago. New Matrix does not appear in its listed building’s company directory, and staff at the nearby property management agency told the Times they had no record of the firm.
According to the Times, New Matrix’s owners have ties to a Chinese private equity firm that has been on the US government blacklist since 2024. The Times reports this represents a pattern rather than an isolated case, with multiple companies connected to sanctioned entities receiving approval to purchase Nvidia chips.
Nvidia had been restricted from selling chips to China during the Biden administration. The Trump administration relaxed those limits after Nvidia agreed to give the government a 15-percent cut of all sales, according to The Verge. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also conducted an intense lobbying campaign and was reportedly targeted by China’s Ministry of State Security in a spying plot.