The U.S. government continues to approve sales of Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to Chinese companies that have connections to entities subject to trade restrictions.
There are growing concerns regarding the lack of due diligence performed by both the Commerce Department and Nvidia in vetting Chinese firms cleared to handle the company’s H200 AI chips.
According to The New York Times, one of the approved firms, New Matrix, operates out of an empty office described as “a hollow gray shell with wires dangling from the ceiling where lights should be.” The publication found little evidence that the company exists in any meaningful way:
Scant information is available online about New Matrix, which was established 17 months ago. The directory at the building listed as its address does not include the firm, and a receptionist and manager at the nearby industrial park property management agency confirmed they have no record of the company.
The limited information found about New Matrix is deeply concerning. Its owners are linked to a Chinese private equity firm that has been blacklisted by the U.S. government since 2024. The Times reports that this is not an isolated oversight lapse but rather a troubling pattern where companies connected to national-security-related trade restrictions are being approved to purchase Nvidia chips.
Nvidia faced restrictions on selling chips to China during the Biden administration. However, the Trump administration relaxed these limits after Nvidia agreed to provide the government with a 15 percent cut of all sales. Additionally, the company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has engaged in an intense lobbying campaign and was reportedly targeted by China’s Ministry of State Security in a spying plot.
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