32 Banned Nvidia B300 GPUs Detected on China Telecom Network

Thirty-two Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 GPUs, whose export to China is prohibited, were detected on the network of state-owned China Telecom. The Information reported on the 22nd, local time, that Israeli security firm Lavee found them through an internet-exposed monitoring system. The chips’ actual installation site, how they connected to China Telecom’s network, and how they were obtained remain unknown.

Lavee obtained the information from Nvidia’s open-source DCGM Exporter, a tool for checking GPU status and performance. If this internal management tool is exposed online without a password, outsiders can see GPU models and unique identifiers for individual devices. Lavee said an internet address alone could not establish the chips’ physical location. China Telecom did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier reports also described advanced chips entering China in violation of U.S. export controls. The Financial Times reported last July, citing sales contracts and company documents, that at least $1 billion worth of advanced Nvidia AI chips entered China during the three months after export controls were tightened. Products sold by Chinese distributors included Blackwell-series B200 servers.

In February this year, Reuters reported, citing a senior U.S. government official, that DeepSeek had trained an AI model using Blackwell chips subject to export bans. The official suggested the chips might be gathered at a data center in Inner Mongolia, but the U.S. government did not disclose how it obtained the information or how DeepSeek acquired the chips. Nvidia said the batch found in this case was tiny compared with the tens of millions of GPUs used in authorized countries, and claimed government enforcement is curbing smuggling.

Thirty-two Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 GPUs, whose export to China is prohibited, were detected on the network of state-owned China Telecom. The Information reported on the 22nd, local time, that Israeli security firm Lavee found them through an internet-exposed monitoring system. The chips’ actual installation site, how they connected to China Telecom’s network, and how they were obtained remain unknown.

Lavee obtained the information from Nvidia’s open-source DCGM Exporter, a tool for checking GPU status and performance. If this internal management tool is exposed online without a password, outsiders can see GPU models and unique identifiers for individual devices. Lavee said an internet address alone could not establish the chips’ physical location. China Telecom did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier reports also described advanced chips entering China in violation of U.S. export controls. The Financial Times reported last July, citing sales contracts and company documents, that at least $1 billion worth of advanced Nvidia AI chips entered China during the three months after export controls were tightened. Products sold by Chinese distributors included Blackwell-series B200 servers.

In February this year, Reuters reported, citing a senior U.S. government official, that DeepSeek had trained an AI model using Blackwell chips subject to export bans. The official suggested the chips might be gathered at a data center in Inner Mongolia, but the U.S. government did not disclose how it obtained the information or how DeepSeek acquired the chips. Nvidia said the batch found in this case was tiny compared with the tens of millions of GPUs used in authorized countries, and claimed government enforcement is curbing smuggling.