US cleared Chinese firms to handle Nvidia's H200 chips; some had empty offices, the Times reports

In a new industrial park on Beijing’s north-west edge, New York Times reporters went looking for a firm called New Matrix. Under the Nvidia H200 China licences, the US had cleared it to build AI servers around the chips. At its listed address, they found what they called “a hollow gray shell with wires dangling from the ceiling where lights should be”. The building directory did not list the firm, and the park’s property office had no record of it.

That visit anchors a Times investigation published on 7 November. It raises a hard question: when Washington approves a buyer, how closely does it look at who that buyer really is? About two dozen Chinese firms have been cleared to buy or handle the chip, according to people cited by the Times. The paper reports that some had apparently empty offices or links to companies on the US trade blacklist.

The Times did not find that any chips reached China’s military, and it did not show that New Matrix received any.

How Washington opened the door to Nvidia H200 China sales

Export rules exist so the most powerful AI chips do not strengthen a rival’s military. On 8 December 2025, President Trump said Nvidia could sell the H200 to approved customers in China. On 13 January 2026, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) made it a rule. Licences for the H200, AMD’s MI325X and similar chips are reviewed case by case.

Each sale has conditions. It must not cut chip supply for US customers. The Chinese buyer must have export-compliance procedures, including customer screening. And the chips must pass independent testing in the US. “Permitting the sale of the H200 to China under controlled conditions will strengthen the American technology ecosystem,” said Jeffrey Kessler, the Under Secretary for Industry and Security. The Times adds that the US government takes 25% of the revenue from these sales.

Few chips have moved. Nvidia filings cited by the Times put H200 shipments to China at under 1% of its data-centre revenue in the quarter to July.

What the Times found behind two approved names

New Matrix was created about 17 months ago. The Times reports that its owners have ties to Wise Road Capital, a Chinese private equity firm. Wise Road has been on the US Entity List since 2 December 2024 for helping China’s government acquire companies with sensitive chip-making capability. Two analysts told the Times that New Matrix could be a front for Wise Road-linked companies.

A second approved firm, Maginfra, also had an apparently deserted office, the Times found. Analysts link it to Inspur, citing shared staff and patents and government ownership in corporate records. Inspur Group has been on the Entity List since March 2023. The Times named two more approved firms with state or defence ties.

Washington and Nvidia say the checks are real

A BIS spokesperson told the Times that every licence weighs national-security risk. The agency pointed to US$324 million in export-violation penalties in 2025 and more than 90 enforcement officers hired in 2026. Nvidia spokesman John Rizzo said “it makes no sense for the Chinese military to depend on American technology.” He added that Nvidia sells “the first, best and most of our technology in America.”

Liza Tobin, a former China director at the White House National Security Council, is not convinced. “I have a ton of concerns that neither the Commerce Department nor Nvidia is doing the due diligence needed,” she told the Times. The full list of approved firms is not public, so outsiders cannot check the rest.

If you sell technology abroad, an empty address is a warning sign

For any company that exports technology, this is a lesson in “know your customer” checks: confirm that a buyer works where it says it does, and find out who owns it, before anything ships. A listed address that turns out to be empty is a classic red flag.

For investors, the money at stake is small today. The political risk is bigger: tighter rules could shape what Nvidia sells next. Our earlier report on China’s own proposed export curbs on AI technology shows that both sides now treat chips and AI as strategic goods.

Why the follow-up matters more than the finding

On balance, the Times has found worrying signs, not proof that chips went astray. The H200 is also a generation behind Nvidia’s newest chips.

Still, the rules rest on one promise: that Washington knows the real buyer. Reported ownership links to blacklisted firms test that promise directly. The most reassuring answer would be a calm, open review of these licences, not a defence of them.

The next signs to watch are whether BIS looks again at New Matrix and Maginfra, and whether Congress starts asking questions.