Nvidia's banned H800, H100 and H200 chips found at Shanghai AI facility: How did they reach China?

A Chinese company founded by Alice Huang, who is at the centre of the controversy surrounding Nvidia and its former CEO Jensen Huang, allegedly procured restricted artificial intelligence chips through a network of companies operating across Singapore and China, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

According to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News, Nvidia's H800, H100 and H200 chips, which have been subject to US export restrictions, were installed at a sprawling AI data centre in Shanghai. The findings raise concerns about possible weaknesses in Washington's efforts to prevent advanced semiconductor technology from reaching China.

How did Nvidia's restricted chips reach Shanghai?

Bloomberg News reported that Aperia Cloud Services, an official Nvidia Cloud Partner headquartered in Singapore, purchased 22 servers from Dell Technologies containing Nvidia's H800 chips.

However, instead of remaining in Singapore, the hardware reportedly ended up with Shanghai Longteng Intelligent Computing, a Chinese company founded by Alice Huang.

The investigation cited documents submitted to Chinese authorities and information from a person familiar with the transaction. Bloomberg also reported that serial numbers of the servers were verified with a source familiar with Dell's sale to Aperia.

It remains unclear how the hardware was transferred to Shanghai Longteng or whether Alice Huang was personally involved in arranging the transaction.

The Shanghai facility also reportedly has connections to Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based data centre company founded by Alice Huang in 2023. According to Bloomberg, Megaspeed featured a rendering of the Shanghai facility in a 2024 investor presentation.

Dell stopped sales over diversion concerns

Dell Technologies confirmed that it had discontinued its relationship with Aperia amid concerns about unauthorised hardware diversion.

The company said it “stopped all sales and support to Aperia International in February 2025 due to unauthorized diversion concerns.”

The development coincided with Singapore authorities arresting Aperia's CEO in February 2025 on charges of defrauding server suppliers. The executive has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

According to Bloomberg News, Singapore prosecutors have also charged a fifth person in connection with the case.

Nvidia previously said Aperia was no longer an active customer when its CEO was arrested. The company subsequently removed Aperia from its publicly available list of Nvidia Cloud Partners.

Aperia has denied wrongdoing.

Why are Nvidia's AI chips restricted?

The United States imposed restrictions on exports of advanced Nvidia processors to China as part of broader efforts to limit Beijing's access to sophisticated computing technology.

Washington restricted H800 chip exports to China in 2023, seeking to slow the country's development of advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.

The H100 and H200 processors are also subject to US export restrictions, although the applicable rules and licensing requirements have evolved over time.

These processors are used to train and operate advanced AI models, making access to them strategically important in the technological competition between Washington and Beijing.

The reported movement of restricted chips through third-country intermediaries highlights the difficulties regulators face in monitoring the final destinations of sophisticated computing equipment.

Alice Huang and Nvidia controversy

The investigation comes amid a widening controversy involving Nvidia's former CEO Jensen Huang, who resigned on Thursday after acknowledging extramarital affairs, including one reportedly involving Alice Huang.

Alice Huang has also faced allegations of links to Chinese intelligence, which Beijing has denied.

In May 2025, Jensen Huang said there was “no evidence” of chip diversion.

Separately, Megaspeed said on Thursday that it was investigating whether it had complied with export-control requirements concerning sensitive semiconductors.

Malaysian authorities are also investigating a Megaspeed subsidiary over the possible diversion of advanced AI chips to other countries.

What does this mean for US export controls?

The Bloomberg News findings highlight potential vulnerabilities in international semiconductor supply chains, particularly when restricted hardware passes through multiple companies and jurisdictions.

Although the investigation documents the reported movement of restricted Nvidia equipment into China, it does not establish that Nvidia or Jensen Huang knowingly facilitated the transfers.

For US regulators, the central challenge remains ensuring that advanced AI chips sold through authorised partners are not subsequently diverted to destinations subject to export restrictions.