Israeli firm says 32 banned Nvidia B300 chips found in China Telecom network
The find is an early sign that export controls on the newest Nvidia hardware are not holding inside state-linked networks.
An Israeli security firm, Lava, says it identified 32 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 chips inside the network of China Telecom, a state-owned Chinese telecoms provider, even though U.S. export controls already bar those chips from reaching China. Lava found them using Nvidia's own DCGM Exporter monitoring tool, which data center operators install and which can sometimes be reached from outside the facility without a password. It could not say how the chips arrived or pin down where they sit in the network. Nvidia played down the report without disputing it, arguing that diversion of controlled products is marginal. The episode follows earlier smuggling cases, including a 2025 report of $1 billion in Nvidia AI chips moved into China over three months and a Taiwanese indictment of nine people over illegal B300 exports.
Why it matters
The finding suggests that U.S. export rules on the newest Nvidia hardware have gaps that reach into a major state-owned operator, not just resellers on the margins. Nvidia's response, calling diversion marginal without disputing the report, leaves open how much of the controlled supply is escaping. The case adds to earlier smuggling reports and a Taiwanese indictment, pointing to a pattern rather than a single lapse. Whether regulators or Nvidia tighten monitoring in response will show how seriously the gap is being treated.
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