Chinese AI models reveal traces of sanctioned Nvidia accelerators

Forensic analysis of advanced language models from China has revealed hardware traces of Nvidia GPUs subject to export restrictions. The study covers products from developers such as DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, MiniMax, and Ant Group.

Experts discovered characteristic technical markers of the Blackwell architecture in the operation of Chinese systems. The data obtained indicates that local laboratories continue to utilize advanced American hardware, bypassing current U.S. sanctions and export controls.

The detection of such "digital fingerprints" clearly demonstrates the real state of semiconductor supply chains. The finding calls into question the effectiveness of current restrictions on the supply of high-performance chips to the PRC.