The US is mapping how China rents the Nvidia chips it cannot buy

The enforcement arm of the Bureau of Industry and Security is reviewing how Chinese AI firms access Nvidia hardware overseas, Bloomberg reported. The Commerce Department division that polices chip export controls is focusing on Chinese companies renting computing power in other countries rather than importing the chips themselves. The review builds two lists. One names countries running black markets that move restricted Nvidia chips physically into China. The other names countries where Chinese firms tap the chips remotely, which is not currently illegal. The trigger was a run of strong Chinese models, including Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 release last month. A top White House official accused Moonshot of illegally obtaining Nvidia's best hardware and reaching those chips remotely through an unnamed party in Thailand. That post was not coordinated with Commerce, according to Bloomberg. A few days later, the BIS enforcement team launched its review. Washington's stance is hard to read. Commerce shelved its own draft rules, including one curbing sales to Malaysia and Thailand over diversion fears. Trump also cleared exports to China of H200 chips, the same model his officials say smugglers are moving. BIS built its powers around the movement of physical goods, so it is unclear whether it can police cloud-computing deals. The House has passed bipartisan legislation to grant that authority. Nvidia has called export controls the reason it forfeited the world's second-largest commercial market to foreign competitors. The arrangements resist tracing by design. Alibaba reaches Nvidia chips in Malaysia through Megaspeed, a Singaporean firm under US investigation for possible diversion. Alibaba routes the arrangement through a Singaporean shell controlled by a Cayman Islands entity that Alibaba ultimately owns, according to documents Bloomberg reviewed. Both companies declined to comment or did not respond.