A sprawling supply network involving billions of dollars worth of NVIDIA hardware has been linked to efforts to get export-restricted AI accelerators into China despite the seemingly tight U.S. export controls.
According to a recent report from C4ADS, a monitoring organization that receives most of its funding from the U.S. government, several methods are currently being used to circumvent import restrictions on prohibited NVIDIA hardware. These include direct purchases by Chinese research institutions, transshipment through Southeast Asia, and opaque corporate ownership structures that operate through various shell corporations, making the final destination of advanced hardware difficult to trace.
One of the most significant entities examined is Megaspeed International, a Southeast Asian importer that handled approximately $4.6 billion worth of NVIDIA hardware between 2022 and 2025. However, that figure does not mean $4.6 billion in restricted AI chips reached China. C4ADS instead highlights Megaspeed because of the scale of its imports and its opaque ownership history, pointing to it as a possible candidate for being involved in the underground market.
Megaspeed has previously been linked to Chinese gaming company 7Road Holdings and was briefly controlled by businesswoman Huang Le, with C4ADS pointing to complex corporate handovers as an example of how beneficial ownership can become obscured.
The report also cites at least $1.7 million worth of restricted NVIDIA chips being acquired by Chinese universities and research institutions. Additionally, roughly $13.4 million worth of this hardware was moved across 50 shipments through Southeast Asian trade routes.
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Researchers identified suspicious shipping practices in some transactions, including missing cost, insurance, weight, and freight information, as well as unusually rounded customs declarations.
