The Trump administration approved Chinese companies with ties to US-blacklisted entities and military contractors to purchase or handle advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence chips, raising questions about the effectiveness of Washington's national security screening process, The New York Times reported in an investigation detailed on Saturday.
Among the companies approved by the US Commerce Department was New Matrix, a Chinese firm established just 17 months ago whose registered office in an industrial park outside Beijing appeared vacant when visited by Times reporters.
The company's listed address led to an empty office with exposed wiring, while neither the building directory nor the industrial park's management had any record of the business, according to the investigation.
Chinese corporate records showed that New Matrix's owners had connections to Wise Road, a prominent Chinese private equity fund placed on the US Commerce Department's trade blacklist in 2024 for allegedly helping Beijing acquire strategically sensitive semiconductor companies. The findings come amid longstanding concerns in Washington over China's access to advanced American semiconductor technology.
Two analysts who reviewed the corporate records and other Chinese-language information told NYT they believed New Matrix could be a front for companies associated with the blacklisted fund. The findings are part of a broader pattern identified by the newspaper in which Chinese companies approved to handle Nvidia's H200 processors maintain corporate links to entities subject to US national security restrictions.
Questions over US screening of Chinese chip buyers
The Trump administration authorized Nvidia to sell H200 processors to China in December 2025, reversing elements of earlier restrictions intended to prevent Beijing from obtaining advanced technology that could strengthen its military capabilities.
Under the arrangement, chips manufactured in Taiwan must pass through the United States before reaching China, allowing Washington to collect a 25% tariff on their value.
The Commerce Department has reportedly approved approximately two dozen Chinese companies to purchase or handle the processors, including major corporations such as Baidu, BYD, and Tesla Shanghai.
Reuters previously reported that Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and ZTE Kangxun Telecom had also received authorization.
The companies were permitted to purchase tens of thousands of H200 chips each, although they had not yet reached those limits, according to people familiar with the approvals, as cited by the NYT.
Liza Tobin, who served as China director on the White House National Security Council during the first Trump and Biden administrations, questioned whether US authorities and Nvidia were conducting sufficient checks on the approved companies.
“I have a ton of concerns that neither the Commerce Department nor Nvidia is doing the due diligence needed to ensure that the licensing terms are being followed,” she told NYT.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security defended its licensing process, saying it carefully reviews applications for national security risks.
The agency said it had imposed $324 million in penalties for export violations in 2025 and hired more than 90 enforcement officers in 2026 to strengthen oversight of technology restrictions.
Chinese firms linked to military suppliers
NYT investigation identified several additional companies authorized to purchase or assemble H200 chips whose ownership structures or business activities connected them to Chinese military contractors.
One was Maginfra, another relatively new company whose registered office also appeared deserted when visited by Times reporters.
Analysts cited by the newspaper believed Maginfra was associated with Inspur, a Chinese technology company previously placed on the US entity list for its involvement with China's military.
Corporate records indicated that Maginfra and Inspur shared personnel and patents, and both had government ownership.
Another approved company, Zhejiang Yindun Cloud Technology, had connections to Range Intelligent Computing Technology Group, a major Chinese cloud computing provider that has supplied services to military contractors.
Range provides cloud computing services for a satellite program operated by the defense bureau of Hebei province. The company has described the program as supporting China's national defense development.
The investigation also identified Shanghai Jiatang, a company originating from state-owned Datang Telecom, which supplies technology to the Chinese military.
Datang is controlled by the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology, a state-owned enterprise involved in developing military cryptography.
NYT did not establish that the approved processors had been diverted to China's military, but the corporate connections raised concerns about whether existing licensing safeguards adequately prevent restricted entities from gaining access to advanced US technology.
Nvidia defends sales as China restricts imports
Nvidia defended its operations in China, arguing that the country's military would have little incentive to depend on American semiconductor technology.
John Rizzo, an Nvidia spokesman, said “it makes no sense for the Chinese military to depend on American technology,” adding that the company sells “the first, best and most of our technology in America.”
He said Beijing had restricted H200 imports to promote domestic semiconductor manufacturers, while Nvidia's limited exports continued to support American employment and manufacturing.
Chinese regulators have restricted access to H200 imports while encouraging the use of domestically produced processors, complicating Nvidia's efforts to expand sales in the Chinese market.
According to Nvidia's financial disclosures cited by NYT, shipments of H200 chips to customers based in China accounted for less than 1% of the company's data center revenue in the quarter ending in July.
Nvidia also said in August that its revenue projections for the current quarter did not assume any data center sales to China.
Nevertheless, Chinese companies have increasingly sought access to advanced US processors through overseas data centers, particularly in Southeast Asia.
American officials have previously raised concerns that Chinese artificial intelligence firms were using overseas companies and infrastructure to circumvent US export controls.
NYT also reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had maintained a close relationship with a woman whom US intelligence agencies assessed to be a Chinese intelligence asset. The company she worked for, Megaspeed, operated Southeast Asian data centers serving Chinese clients and was under investigation for suspected chip smuggling.
The latest findings add to a continuing debate in Washington over the national security implications of permitting advanced chip exports to China.
A bipartisan group of US senators proposed legislation in December 2025 that would prevent the administration from relaxing restrictions on advanced AI chip exports to China and other countries for two and a half years.