WTF?! Nvidia has denied that its chips have been smuggled into China using bizarre methods, including hiding them in fake pregnant bellies or alongside live lobsters. However, Chinese customs have documented these exact cases, complete with photographic evidence.
Nvidia's rant was aimed at AI startup Anthropic, which has been clashing with Team Green over the AI Diffusion Rules that are set to take effect on May 15. The rules restrict the export of advanced AI technologies, particularly AI chips and high-capability models (those trained with over 10²⁶ FLOPs).
Nvidia wants to keep selling its expensive GPUs to China, while Anthropic, which uses the company's hardware for its operations, wants to keep them in the US to ensure a steady supply and fewer competitors.
The Amazon-backed company has suggested lowering the export threshold for Tier 2 countries, implementing stricter regulations to minimize smuggling risks, and boosting funding for enforcement efforts.
"Maintaining America's compute advantage through export controls is essential for national security and economic prosperity," Anthropic wrote.
The company also cited the arrest of two people in 2023 by Hong Kong customs officers who were trying to smuggle 70 high-end "computer display cards" into the country alongside 617 pounds of lobsters, and the famous incident in which a woman was caught entering China with 202 Intel CPUs wrapped around her torso and concealed underneath a prosthetic pregnant belly.
Nvidia was, unsurprisingly, less than pleased by Anthropic's criticism. A spokesperson told CNBC that "American firms should focus on innovation and rise to the challenge, rather than tell tall tales that large, heavy, and sensitive electronics are somehow smuggled in 'baby bumps' or 'alongside live lobsters.'"
It's confusing why the spokesperson would consider the reports to be tall tales, especially as there are photos from these incidents of the smugglers' hauls. Maybe they'd argue that the woman with the pregnant belly was hiding iPhones and Intel CPUs, not Nvidia chips?
Nvidia's spokesperson added that the policy should not be used to limit competitiveness. They said China has half the world's AI researchers and highly capable experts at every layer of the AI stack. "America cannot manipulate regulators to capture victory in AI," the spokesperson said.
"Anthropic stands by its recently filed public submission in support of strong and balanced export controls that help secure America's lead in infrastructure development and ensure that the values of freedom and democracy shape the future of AI," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Beijing last month at the invitation of a Chinese trade organisation. He confirmed that China was a very important market for Nvidia, and recently said that when it came to AI, "China is not behind anybody, China is right behind us, we are very, very close." He also praised the progress being made by Huawei.
Nvidia denies chip-smuggling reports involving fake pregnancies and live lobsters
