Tuesday, August 27, 2024

China Gains Secret Access to Nvdia Microchips by Renting Computers

One entrepreneur helping Chinese companies overcome the hurdles is Derek Aw, a former bitcoin miner.

In June, Aw's company loaded more than 300 servers with the chips into a data center in Brisbane, Australia.

Renting far away computing power is nothing new, and many global companies shuffle data around the world using U.S. companies' services such as Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.

Washington has targeted exports of advanced chips, equipment and technology, but cloud companies say the export rules don't restrict Chinese companies or their foreign affiliates from accessing U.S. cloud services using Nvidia chips.

As a further mask, he and others said Chinese AI companies often make transactions through subsidiaries in Singapore or elsewhere.

In turn, the subsidiary buys time from a company Dubai or Singapore that hosts the servers.

Sanctions don't work but they do drive up prices and/or create competition for US companies. 

https://mishtalk.com/economics/china-gains-secret-access-to-nvdia-microchips-by-renting-computers/

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