(Reuters) – State-linked Chinese entities are using cloud services provided by Amazon or its rivals to access advanced U.S. chips and artificial intelligence capabilities that they cannot acquire otherwise, recent public tender documents showed.
Providing access to such technologies through the cloud is not a violation of U.S. regulations.
A spokesperson for Amazon’s cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), said: “AWS complies with all applicable U.S. laws, including trade laws, regarding the provision of AWS services inside and outside of China.”
Following is a list of Chinese entities that sought access to restricted U.S. technologies through the cloud, according to the documents that were reviewed by Reuters.
Entities accessing or expressing interest in accessing AI models and computing power via AWS:
1. Zhejiang Lab
The state-run research institute is developing its own large-language model, GeoGPT, and said in a tender document in April that it intended to spend 184,000 yuan ($25,760) to purchase AWS cloud computing services, as its AI model could not get enough computing power from homegrown Alibaba. The institute told Reuters that it did not go through with the purchase but did not say why. Alibaba’s cloud unit, Alicloud, did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not determine if the purchase had been completed.
2. National Center of Technology Innovation for EDA
The state-backed entity, which helps Chinese companies develop chip design blueprints for mass production, said in an April tender document it spent 600,000 yuan to buy an overseas AWS account for the purpose of accessing Claude 3, an AI model developed by Anthropic. Anthropic said it does not support or allow customers or end-users within China to access Claude. The center did not respond to a request for comment.
Entities accessing advanced U.S. chips via AWS:
1. Shenzhen University
Shenzhen University spent 200,000 yuan on an AWS account to gain access to cloud servers powered by Nvidia A100 and H100 chips for an unspecified project, according to a March tender document. Exports to China of the two Nvidia chips are banned by the U.S.
Shenzhen University got this service via an intermediary, Yunda Technology Ltd Co, the document showed. The university and Yunda Technology did not respond to requests for comment.
Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment on Shenzhen University’s spending or on any of the other Chinese entities’ deals.
2. Fujian Chuanzheng Communications College
The vocational college backed by the Fujian provincial government spent 85,000 yuan in August last year on an AWS account that would give it access to clusters made up of over 4,000 Nvidia A100 chips. The supplier was Xiamen Hanwei Software Technology Ltd Co, according to the August tender document.
The college said in the tender document that the purchase was designed to “keep pace with the latest developments in cloud computing technology…and enhance the quality of cloud computing talent training and professional development at educational institutions.”
The college and Xiamen Hanwei did not respond to requests for comment. An AWS spokesperson said “the vast majority of this small tender pertained to skills training, and the very small portion that related to cloud services did not use any of the restricted AI chips.”
Entities accessing or expressing interest in accessing OpenAI tools via Microsoft’s Azure
1. Chongqing Changan Automobile Co
The state-owned car maker said in May last year it was looking for a retailer authorised by Microsoft that could set up Azure OpenAI accounts and integrate generative AI technology into the company’s systems and applications. The company did not respond to a request for comment on whether it went through with the purchase. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment and Reuters could not determine whether the purchase went through.
2. Sichuan University
In April, Sichuan University said it was building a generative AI platform and purchasing 40 million Azure OpenAI tokens in order to support the delivery of this project. The supplier was Sichuan Province Xuedong Technology Co Ltd, a May tender document showed. The Chinese entities and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment.
OpenAI said in a statement its own services are not supported in China and that Azure OpenAI operates under Microsoft’s policies. It did not comment on the tenders.
Entities accessing or expressing interest in accessing U.S. chips via cloud services
1. Suzhou Institute of Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)
The USTC institute said in a March filing that it wanted to rent 500 cloud servers, each powered by eight Nvidia A100 chips for an unspecified purpose.
The tender was fulfilled by Hefei Advanced Computing Center Operation Management Co Ltd, a procurement document showed in April, but the document did not name the cloud service provider and Reuters could not determine its identity.
The U.S. Commerce Department added USTC to its Entity List in May 2024 for acquiring U.S. technology for quantum computing that could help China’s military, and involvement in its nuclear program development.
USTC did not respond to a request for comment on the transaction and on being put on the entity list.
2. Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)
The university’s Department of Computer Science bought in April four months of usage time on a server powered by eight Nvidia A100 chips by paying 196,000 yuan to Shenzhen Yunbing Technology Co Ltd for an unspecified purpose.
The university’s Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering was added in February 2022 to the Unverified List, which means parties that engage in business with the department must take additional compliance steps to address U.S. concerns about potential national security risks.
SUSTech and Shenzhen Yunbing did not respond to requests for comment.
3. Tsinghua University
One of the most frequent state-affiliated buyers of banned Nvidia chips said in November 2023 that it planned to spend almost half a million yuan to rent 10 or more servers, each powered by eight Nvidia A100 chips, to provide AI computing power for an unspecified purpose. The contract was awarded to Beijing Parallel Technology Co Ltd, a Reuters check showed. Neither entity responded to a request for comment.
4. China Coal Research Institute
A major R&D hub for China’s coal industry, the institute said in June it wanted to purchase four servers powered by Nvidia A100 chips. The institute did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not establish if the purchase went ahead.
5. China National Knowledge Infrastructure
China National Knowledge Infrastructure, which operates the country’s largest academic database, said it wanted to purchase a cloud computing account with a validity of three years that could give it access to Nvidia A100 computing power. The tender was awarded to Inner Mongolia Tongfang Exploration Technology Co Ltd, a Reuters check showed. Neither company responded to a request for comment.
($1 = 7.1429 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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