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Chinese AI labs are training models on Nvidia’s Blackwell despite export controls, says ex-OpenAI engineer
A former OpenAI engineer says forensic analysis of published model weights indicates that Chinese AI labs have trained models on Nvidia Blackwell GPUs, despite US export controls restricting those chips’ sale to China. If the findings are accurate, they suggest the controls are not preventing access to advanced hardware and may add pressure for tighter enforcement or new restrictions.
Will DePue’s consultancy says it compared weight patterns produced by Nvidia’s GPU initialisation process with those found in open models. After searching more than six trillion combinations of chip layout and seed number, it identified six Chinese models, including DeepSeek-V4-Pro, Kimi K3 and MiniMax-M3, as having Blackwell fingerprints; four were matched to GB200 or GB300 Grace Blackwell systems. The article also cites a separate report that found 32 Blackwell Ultra B300 GPUs exposed through monitoring endpoints in China.
In short
- Analysis links six Chinese models to Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.
- The method compares hardware-specific patterns in published model weights.
- The findings raise questions about the effectiveness of US export controls.
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The case for
If the analysis is accurate, Blackwell fingerprints in Chinese models and exposed GPUs in China suggest export controls are not fully preventing access to restricted hardware. Advocates of tighter enforcement could argue that advanced chips have strategic uses, so authorities should investigate possible diversion and close gaps before the controls lose credibility.
The case against
The reported fingerprints are an indirect method, and the article presents them as findings by a consultancy rather than definitive proof of where or how the models were trained. Critics could argue that tightening controls on uncertain evidence risks broad costs to research and trade, while enforcement should focus on verifiable supply routes and specific violations.