Researcher says model weights show six Chinese AI models were trained on export-banned Nvidia chips
Former OpenAI researcher Will DePue says he found technical evidence that DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, MiniMax and Ant Group used Nvidia Blackwell GPUs despite US export controls, by reading chip signatures from published model weights. He estimates the hardware behind the training runs cost more than half a billion dollars.
Why it matters
If confirmed, the method gives regulators a new way to check whether chip export controls are working, adding pressure on Nvidia during its leadership crisis.
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