Reuters finds $3B Chinese AI projects built on Nvidia chips

Nvidia has said U.S. export controls have effectively shut it out of China's AI data-centre market. A Reuters investigation published Friday, however, found more than $3 billion in Chinese computing projects designed around the company's restricted processors. Reuters reviewed more than 150 Chinese procurement notices, investment plans, construction contracts and corporate disclosures. Together they described projects and equipment agreements with a combined reported value above 23 billion yuan, or $3.2 billion.reuters.com

The figure covers planned investments, signed contracts and finished installations. It also counts buildings, power systems and other infrastructure, so it does not represent spending on Nvidia chips alone. The findings came a day after co-founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive on Thursday, November 12.reuters.com

From Fujian to Inner Mongolia

The projects were designed around Nvidia's H100, H200 and H800 processors and reach from coastal tech hubs to remote western provinces. Their backers include local government-backed ventures, universities and regional computing centres. In Fujian province's Xianyou county, a proposed 6.2 billion yuan ($873 million) AI centre specifies H100 chips. In Shaanxi province, a subsidiary of the state-owned engineering group Sinomach won a contract on a 3 billion yuan computing centre that calls for H100 and H200 processors. An Inner Mongolia development plans to install 625 H200 servers. In Gansu province, a 1.16 billion yuan construction contract covers a site meant to hold about 3,072 Nvidia processors, according to a Reuters factbox. Reuters said it was unclear whether the Gansu chips ever arrived. It also noted that the documents do not show how the restricted hardware reached Chinese users.reuters.com+1

The projects have not been linked to Megaspeed, the Singapore-based Nvidia cloud partner at the centre of the scandal, or to the allegations involving Huang. Nvidia and China's commerce ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.reuters.com

Huang's exit raises the stakes

Huang stepped down after reports of two extramarital affairs, one of them with a woman the New York Times said U.S. officials had concluded was a Chinese spy. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO. The woman, Alice Huang, is a former Megaspeed executive. Megaspeed denies illegally diverting chips, and there has been no public finding that Jensen Huang broke export-control laws.apnews.com+2

Reuters said Huang's departure could weaken Nvidia's lobbying power as lawmakers push for tighter curbs. That would leave Chinese operators open to delays or costly redesigns around domestic chips. Nvidia said in an August filing that it had been effectively excluded from China's data-centre market. An IDC report, however, estimated that Nvidia still accounted for 34% of Chinese AI-accelerator shipments in the first half of 2026. Separately, the Commerce Department is reportedly finalizing a rule to limit Chinese firms' remote access to advanced chips held in overseas data centres.reuters.com+1

Sunny Cheung, an analyst at the Jamestown Foundation, said Washington "must stop focusing solely on who buys the chips on the surface and start examining who ultimately uses the computing power—and for what purpose".reuters.com