Cleared to buy Nvidia H200s: two firms with empty offices

NYT: two Chinese firms cleared to buy Nvidia H200 chips had empty offices at their listed addresses.

According to The New York Times, as reported by The Verge and Tom's Hardware, New Matrix and Maginfra are on the list of Chinese firms approved to buy H200 chips. Their listed offices were empty shells with some furniture. People nearby said they had never heard of either company. New Matrix is missing from its building directory and was created 17 months ago.

Tom's Hardware reports that public records connect New Matrix's owners to Wise Road, a Chinese private equity firm sanctioned by the US. Maginfra is suspected of links to Inspur, blacklisted by Washington since 2023. Neither firm is listed as a final user; they are meant to assemble the chips into AI servers, and their customers are unclear. Around two dozen firms have been approved.

Liza Tobin, a former White House NSC China director, told the Times she has concerns that neither Commerce nor Nvidia is doing the needed due diligence. The Times describes a pattern of approvals for companies tied to restricted entities.

What's established: neither source includes a response from Commerce or Nvidia, and neither reports any firm violating its license terms. Watch for those responses.

“I have a ton of concerns that neither the Commerce Department or Nvidia is doing the due diligence needed…”Liza Tobin, ex-China director, White House NSC

The facts we checked

According to The New York Times, as reported by The Verge and Tom's Hardware

1. The New York Times found that New Matrix, on the list of Chinese firms approved to buy Nvidia H200 chips, has an empty office at its listed address.Fact · The Verge
2. The Times described the New Matrix office as "a hollow gray shell with wires dangling from the ceiling where lights should be."Quote · The Verge (quoting The New York Times)
3. At New Matrix's listed building, the company directory does not include the firm, and a receptionist and a manager at the nearby property management agency said they had no record of it.Reported · The Verge
4. New Matrix was created 17 months ago and little information about it can be found online.Reported · The Verge
5. The offices of both New Matrix and Maginfra were empty shells with some office furniture, and people working nearby said they had never heard of the companies or seen anyone at the spaces.Reported · Tom's Hardware
6. Public company records show New Matrix was founded by Li Bin, who with two other primary owners is connected to Wise Road, a Chinese private equity firm sanctioned by the US.Reported · Tom's Hardware
7. Maginfra is suspected of being linked to Inspur, which Washington has blacklisted since 2023 for supporting the People's Liberation Army. According to the report, the two companies share personnel, patents and a similar government ownership structure.Reported · Tom's Hardware
8. Neither firm is listed as a final user of the chips. They are supposed to assemble them into AI servers for a final user, and it is unclear who their customers are.Reported · Tom's Hardware
9. The Times reported that around two dozen firms have received approval to buy H200 chips, including these two.Figure · Tom's Hardware
10. "I have a ton of concerns that neither the Commerce Department or Nvidia is doing the due diligence needed to ensure that the licensing terms are being followed," said Liza Tobin, former China director for the White House National Security Council, to the Times.Quote · Tom's Hardware
11. According to the Times, this is not a rare lapse but a pattern of companies tied to entities under national-security-related trade restrictions being approved to buy Nvidia chips.Reported · The Verge
12. Neither source includes a response from the Commerce Department or Nvidia, and neither reports that any firm has been found in violation of its license terms.Fact · The Verge; Tom's Hardware

Sources

• Tom's HardwareTwo Chinese companies cleared to buy banned Nvidia AI chips have empty offices and unknown addresses
• The VergeThe US let Nvidia sell chips to an empty office in China