Nvidia Is Advertising Partnerships With Firms Partly Owned By The Chinese Communist Party

Forbes

The chipmaker’s website touts its work with companies like ZTE, which has been effectively banned from selling its products in the U.S. for years over national security concerns.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2025/11/22/nvidia-is-advertising-partnerships-with-firms-partly-owned-by-the-chinese-communist-party/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, NVIDIA is advertising partnerships with firms partly owned by the Chinese Communist Party.

00:09NVIDIA, the American chip-making giant that's faced restrictions over the sale of its advanced AI chips to China

00:15over fears they could be used against the U.S., has been advertising compute partnerships on its website

00:22with companies closely linked to the Chinese government, Forbes has learned.

00:26One of those companies is ZTE, a telecom company that is partly owned by the Chinese government

00:33and has for years been subject to U.S. restrictions because of its ties to the Chinese military.

00:39In 2017, ZTE pled guilty to violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and misleading regulators about it.

00:46In 2020, the FCC designated ZTE as a threat to U.S. national security,

00:51claiming the company, along with Huawei,

00:55quote,

00:55posed a unique threat to the security and integrity of the nation's communications networks and communications supply chain.

01:02In 2021, the company was added to the Commission's so-called covered list,

01:07and in 2022, the FCC voted to ban sales of new ZTE products in the U.S.

01:13The company is currently under FCC investigation for potential evasion of that ban.

01:17NVIDIA's website lists 129 Chinese partners, split into three tiers, registered, preferred, and elite.

01:27ZTE is listed as elite.

01:30The website says, quote,

01:31Elite partners represent the deepest level of partnership with NVIDIA

01:35and demonstrate the highest level of commitment to the partnership.

01:38Also listed among the company's so-called elite partners are Beijing Advanced Digital Technology,

01:45AdTech Limited, a data storage and financial products firm that serves sanctioned firms including

01:50InSpur and Huawei, and SinoInfo Co. Limited, which is a project of the China Credit Reference Center,

01:57a state-owned entity that tracks Chinese citizens' financial and employment history.

02:01The NVIDIA website says the partnerships are about, quote,

02:05Networking, and, quote, Compute.

02:09Current U.S. laws and regulations do not prevent NVIDIA from partnering with ZTE, AdTech, and SinoInfo,

02:15though they may restrict the U.S. firm from selling specific chips to those partners.

02:20When asked about the partnerships, NVIDIA spokesperson Patrick Rutherford said in a statement, quote,

02:25The regulatory landscape does not allow us to offer a competitive data center GPU in China,

02:31leaving that massive market to our rapidly growing foreign competitors.

02:35We do not include that market in our forecast.

02:38When we were able to supply the market, we followed the government's direction on which companies were restricted.

02:44We worked only with approved partners for commercial, non-military uses.

02:49ZTE, Beijing AdTech, and SinoInfo did not respond to requests for comment.

02:54NVIDIA has sold a slower version of its AI chip called the H20 to Chinese firms for years,

03:01which it developed in part because of U.S. export restrictions.

03:04But earlier this year, President Donald Trump banned it from selling any of its semiconductors to firms in China,

03:10then reversed course to resume sales of the H20 under the condition the U.S. government gets a 15% cut of its revenue.

03:18The most advanced chips are still blocked from sale.

03:21Last Thursday, the White House urged legislators to oppose a bill that would require NVIDIA and other chip makers

03:27to prioritize American customers before selling to companies in China and other foreign adversaries.

03:34Despite U.S. export controls, Chinese firms have used obscure networks of subsidiaries and rental agreements

03:40to circumvent U.S. government bans and obtain chips.

03:43Over the weekend, we told you about four men, one of whom was the CEO of a company that identified itself as a

03:50quote, NVIDIA cloud partner, who were indicted this past week for illegally selling NVIDIA chips to Chinese companies.

03:57Moreover, the Chinese military has continued to try to purchase NVIDIA chips, despite laws intended to stop it from doing so.

04:03Demand for NVIDIA chips has made it the most valuable company in the world today.

04:09In the last financial year, China represented 13% of revenue, or $17 billion.

04:16NVIDIA said in its November earnings, it had only generated $50 million in H20 sales since the April ban on exports was lifted.

04:24Its Q3 revenues for China in 2025 are just $3 billion, a 63% drop from $8 billion in Q3 2024.

04:35For full coverage, check out Emily Baker White's piece on Forbes.com.

04:41This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:43Thanks for tuning in.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended