Research
Researchers allege DeepSeek, Kimi, and other Chinese AI models were trained using banned Nvidia Blackwell GPUs
Tom's Hardware · By Bruno Ferreira ·
The Brief
- Researchers allege that DeepSeek, Kimi and other Chinese AI models were trained using Nvidia Blackwell GPUs that U.S. export controls ban from China.
- The allegation rests on statistical analysis of model weights, which the researchers say shows a high correlation with Nvidia hardware.
- The article notes that Blackwell chips reaching China despite export restrictions is widely regarded in the industry as an open secret.
Why it matters
If the allegation holds, it raises provenance and export-compliance questions for developers who use or depend on these Chinese models, and it highlights how hard U.S. chip export controls are to enforce.
Who’s affected
- Teams evaluating or deploying DeepSeek or Kimi models
- Companies with export-control compliance obligations for AI hardware and models
- #ai
- #export-controls
- #nvidia
- #blackwell
- #china
- #model-training
The topic of U.S. trade controls precluding the export of Nvidia and AMD high-end AI accelerator chips to China has taken a few twists lately. Jensen Huang's affairs aside, it's an open secret in the industry that Nvidia's Blackwell silicon finds its way into China, whether…
Timeline
Researchers' allegation reported by Tom's Hardware
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Researchers allege DeepSeek, Kimi, and other Chinese AI models were trained using banned Nvidia Blackwell GPUs