Despite the US bans and China pushing firms for domestic semiconductor technology, DeepSeek reportedly used smuggled NVIDIA Blackwell chips to build a new AI model.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has allegedly used NVIDIA chips barred from sale in China to train its next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) model, according to a report by The Information.
The report stated that NVIDIA’s advanced Blackwell processors were routed into China through countries where sales remained legal. The chips were first installed in overseas data centres. They were then dismantled, underwent equipment inspections by server manufacturers, and were shipped to China.
The US prohibits exports of these high-end semiconductors to prevent China from gaining access to the most powerful AI-training hardware.
Meanwhile, Washington’s controls have prompted a growing black market. In November, US prosecutors charged four people, two Chinese nationals and two Americans, with illegally moving chips to China via Malaysia under the cover of a fictitious property company.
DeepSeek did not respond to requests for comment. NVIDIA said it has seen no evidence to support the claims but added it would investigate any credible information.
DeepSeek rose to prominence in January 2025 after unveiling an AI model that matched leading systems from Silicon Valley while being developed at far lower cost. The company is backed by hedge fund High-Flyer, which stockpiled roughly 10,000 NVIDIA GPUs in 2021, before US restrictions tightened. Its latest models have been marketed as rivals to OpenAI’s GPT-5 and Google’s Gemini 3 Pro.
China has been urging domestic AI developers to adopt home-grown chips. DeepSeek said in September that it was working with Chinese semiconductor firms on future systems.
The reports emerged only days after US President Donald Trump authorised NVIDIA to sell an older H200 accelerator to China, while keeping the Blackwell ban in place.
