Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, has said China’s military doesn’t rely on chips from his California-based company. But an analysis of six years of Chinese records shows that China’s military has been openly seeking Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips since 2019.

英伟达首席执行官黄仁勋曾表示，中国军方并不依赖这家加州企业的芯片。但一份针对六年以来中国记录的分析显示，中国军方自2019年以来一直在公开寻求英伟达的人工智能芯片。

Chinese records reviewed by Wirescreen, a software platform that provides information about Chinese companies, showed that the People’s Liberation Army has stepped up its efforts to acquire artificial intelligence chips, even after the U.S. government restricted semiconductor sales to foreign adversaries including China.

提供中国企业信息的软件平台Wirescreen查阅的中国记录显示，即便在美国政府限制向包括中国在内的外国对手出售半导体之后，中国人民解放军仍在加大力度获取人工智能芯片。

The records document instances when suppliers agreed to deliver those chips under the military’s terms, but they do not document the final delivery. Nevertheless, John Costello, the Wirescreen analyst who wrote the report, said the data showed “directly and irrefutably” that U.S. technology was equipping the Chinese military.

这些记录记载了供应商同意按军方条件交付这些芯片的情况，但并未记录最终是否交付完成。尽管如此，撰写报告的Wirescreen分析师约翰·科斯特洛表示，这些数据“直接且无可辩驳地”表明，美国技术正在装备中国军队。

“What number of advanced Nvidia chips in P.L.A. hands does the company consider acceptable?” he asked.

“英伟达认为解放军手中掌握多少先进芯片是可以接受的？”他问道。

The report draws on a larger pool of data than previously examined and shows how China adapted to and tried to circumvent U.S. technology restrictions in recent years.

该报告利用了比以往更为庞大的数据池，揭示了中国近年来如何应对并试图绕过美国的技术限制。

Wirescreen examined 3,800 procurement records related to high-end chips and computing. It discovered more than 500 instances when various units of the Chinese military sought Nvidia chips either by name or technical specification.

Wirescreen查阅了3800份与高端芯片和计算设备相关的采购记录，发现了500多起中国军方不同单位直接点名或按技术规格寻求英伟达芯片的情况。

The technology was sought by nearly every branch of the Chinese military, including units that work on nuclear explosive simulations, carry out offensive cyberattacks and plan war games.

中国军方几乎所有部门都在寻求获得英伟达芯片，包括从事核爆炸模拟、实施进攻性网络攻击和规划战争推演的单位。

The report was shared with the Trump administration and Congress, which are debating the future of Nvidia sales to China. In December, President Trump, who has become a close ally of Mr. Huang, approved the sale of Nvidia’s second-best chip to China, while demanding a cut of that revenue for the government. But Republican lawmakers who worry that advanced chips could help China’s military have introduced legislation that would strip the White House of sole responsibility for A.I. chip exports.

该报告已提交给特朗普政府和国会，后者正在就英伟达对华销售的未来展开争论。去年12月，已与黄仁勋建立密切关系的特朗普总统批准向中国出售英伟达性能排名第二的芯片，同时要求政府从相关收入中分成。但担心先进芯片可能助力中国军方的共和党议员已提出立法，希望取消白宫在人工智能芯片出口问题上的完全决定权。

Mr. Huang has fought chip restrictions and urged lawmakers to allow Nvidia to sell to China. He has said that blocking Nvidia from China, the world’s largest semiconductor market, would surrender the market to rival Chinese products that can now do much of what Nvidia chips do. He has also dismissed worries about China’s military use of the chips as overblown.

黄仁勋一直反对芯片出口限制，并敦促立法者允许英伟达对华销售。他表示，如果将英伟达排除在中国这个全球最大的半导体市场之外，就等于把市场拱手让给中国竞争对手，而这些产品如今已能完成英伟达芯片所能实现的大部分功能。他还认为，对中国军方使用这些芯片的担忧被夸大了。

Advanced A.I. systems typically run on networks of 100,000 chips or more, said John Rizzo, a spokesman for Nvidia. In the Wirescreen analysis, the numbers of chips requested by the Chinese military fell considerably short of that, which suggests Beijing is relying at least somewhat on domestic chip makers like Huawei as the country seeks to be technologically self-reliant.

英伟达发言人约翰·里佐表示，先进的人工智能系统通常在10万颗甚至更多芯片组成的网络上运行。而在Wirescreen的分析中，中国军方需求的芯片数量远远低于这个数字，这表明随着中国追求技术自主，北京方面至少在一定程度上正依赖华为等国内的芯片制造商。

Procurement documents have also shown the Chinese military specifically seeking out Huawei chips, as Chinese technology improves, Mr. Rizzo said. He called the idea that China’s military was relying on a small number of Nvidia chips “silly” and “untrue.”

里佐表示，采购文件同样显示，中国军方正在明确采购华为芯片，这与中国技术不断进步的趋势相吻合。他称中国军方离不开一定数量英伟达芯片的说法“荒谬”且“不真实”。

“China has more than enough domestic chips for all of its military applications, with millions to spare,” Mr. Rizzo said in a statement. “Just like it would be nonsensical for the American military to use Chinese technology, it makes no sense for the Chinese military to depend on American technology.”

“中国拥有足够的国产芯片用于其所有军事应用，且有数百万颗的富余，”里佐在声明中表示。“就像美国军方使用中国技术会显得荒唐一样，中国军方依赖美国技术也是没有道理的。”

But public tender documents stretching from 2019 to 2025 show that the Chinese military continued to seek out Nvidia chips for more advanced computing applications. They include Nvidia’s A100, A800, H100 and H800 chips, both before and after those chips were controlled by the U.S. government.

然而，2019年至2025年的公开招标文件显示，中国军方仍持续寻求英伟达芯片，用于更高级的计算应用。其中包括英伟达的A100、A800、H100和H800等型号，而且这些采购既出现在美国政府实施出口管制之前，也出现在管制之后。

Administration officials and congressional staff were briefed last week on the report’s findings.

上周，美国政府官员和国会工作人员已听取了这份报告的简报。

Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said the report showed how China was trying “to smuggle and steal American technology for military purposes.”

密歇根州共和党众议员、众议院中国问题特设委员会主席约翰·穆勒纳尔表示，该报告显示了中国如何试图“走私和窃取美国技术用于军事目的”。

Mr. Moolenaar, who recently introduced a bill to restrict China’s access to American technology, said this was why the United States needed export controls “to protect our advantage in the A.I. race and make sure we are not arming China.”

穆莱纳尔近期提出了一项限制中国获取美国技术的法案，他表示，这正是美国需要出口管制的原因——“保护我们在人工智能竞赛中的优势，并确保我们不会武装中国”。

Congress is weighing several rules that would restrict the foreign sale of advanced technology. One introduced last year, the A.I. OVERWATCH Act, would require the Commerce Department to certify that A.I. chips would not be used to help adversaries’ militaries and would give Congress the power to block chip exports.

国会目前正在审议多项限制先进技术出口的规定。其中一项是去年提出的《人工智能监管法案》，它要求商务部证明人工智能芯片不会被用于帮助对手国家的军队，并赋予国会阻止芯片出口的权力。

In January, the House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced the bill in a 42-to-2 vote. It still needs to clear the full House and Senate, and it’s not clear whether the president would sign it.

今年1月，众议院外交事务委员会以42票对两票通过了该法案。该法案仍需获得众议院和参议院全体通过，总统是否会签署也尚不明朗。

Industry experts and government officials have debated whether U.S. technology controls have held back China’s technological progress or are backfiring by encouraging the Chinese government to develop domestic alternatives.

行业专家和政府官员一直在争论：美国的技术管制究竟是在拖慢中国技术进步，还是正在适得其反，促使中国政府加速发展国产替代方案

Trump officials rolled back global restrictions on Nvidia chip sales issued at the end of the Biden administration, saying they were stifling U.S. technology firms. But the move made it possible for subsidiaries of Chinese companies located outside of China to legally purchase Nvidia’s most advanced chips, said Chris McGuire, a former State Department official.

特朗普政府官员撤销了拜登政府末期出台的对英伟达芯片销售的全球限制，称这些措施正在扼杀美国科技企业。但前国务院官员克里斯·麦奎尔表示，此举使得位于中国境外的中国企业子公司得以合法购买英伟达最先进的芯片。

On Sunday, the Trump administration issued a clarification of its rules saying that companies needed to obtain a license from the U.S. government to sell controlled chips to Chinese companies anywhere in the world.

周日，特朗普政府发布了对相关规则的澄清说明，指出企业若要向全球任何地方的中国公司出售受管制芯片，都必须获得美国政府许可。

China has also continued to develop its domestic technology. Last week, Huawei unveiled a breakthrough in its chip development that it said would allow it to make cutting-edge chips within five years. The company is expected to make millions of chips this year, according to SemiAnalysis, a semiconductor research firm.

与此同时，中国也在持续推进本土技术研发。上周，华为宣布在芯片开发方面取得突破，称其将在五年内具备生产最先进芯片的能力。据半导体研究机构SemiAnalysis预测，华为今年的芯片产量预计将达数百万颗。

China has regulations that encourage its military to use home-grown technology products. Procurement records show that the military has awarded contracts to Chinese companies that rely on Huawei’s A.I. chips, which were a key selling point, according to an analysis by the Jamestown Foundation, a policy group focused on China.

中国出台了鼓励军队使用国产技术产品的相关规定。中国问题研究机构詹姆斯敦基金会的分析显示，采购记录表明，军队已将合同授予依托华为人工智能芯片的中国企业，而华为芯片正是关键卖点之一。

Mr. Costello said Wirescreen’s analysis showed that U.S. restrictions had slowed China’s technology purchases, though the military ultimately developed strategies to bypass them.

科斯特洛表示，Wirescreen的分析表明，美国限制措施确实减缓了中国技术采购的速度，但军方最终还是制定出了绕过限制的策略。

“It introduces a lot of friction, makes them compromise, slows them down,” he said.

“这些限制制造了大量摩擦，迫使他们妥协，也拖慢了他们的速度，”他说。

For example, he said, the Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology, one of the principal research institutes of China’s Cyberspace Force, appeared to have more trouble obtaining chips after the United States imposed export controls in 2022 and 2023. Some bids that the institute put out for American A.I. technology were not completed, and the group had to relist them in another form.

例如，他表示，中国网络空间部队的重要研究机构之一——江南计算技术研究所在美国于2022年和2023年实施出口管制后，获取芯片变得更加困难。该研究所发布的一些采购美国人工智能技术的招标未能完成，后来不得不以其他形式重新发布。

China’s Cyberspace Force, which is responsible for cyberwarfare, reconnaissance and domestic surveillance, was the largest single buyer among China’s military service branches of American A.I. technology in the documents, and the Jiangnan Institute was added to a trade blacklist in 2019 for developing supercomputers for the Chinese military.

根据这些文件，负责网络战、侦察和国内监控的中国网络空间部队是中国军方各单位中最大的美国人工智能技术买家。而江南计算技术研究所早在2019年就因开发服务于中国军方的超级计算机而被列入贸易黑名单。

The Chinese military and firms associated with it adapted to the U.S. export controls by finding new ways to acquire the technology, Mr. Costello said. The military reduced some of its technical requirements and used new channels to obtain chips that obfuscated its role. That included bringing in new types of companies to buy the chips, which ranged from established technology firms to shell companies. It took the military about a year to adapt, Mr. Costello said.

科斯特洛表示，中国军方及其相关企业通过寻找新的获取渠道来适应美国出口管制。军方降低了一部分技术要求，并借助新渠道以模糊其自身角色的方式获取芯片，包括引入从成熟科技公司到空壳公司等各类新型采购主体。科斯特洛表示，军方大约花了一年时间完成这种适应。

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said China had consistently advocated cooperation with the United States and opposed the weaponization of technological and economic issues.

中国驻美大使馆发言人表示，中国一贯主张与美国开展合作，反对将技术和经济问题武器化。

The procurement records provided some clues as to how Nvidia’s technology was used. In January 2024, a Beijing-based division of the military’s cybersecurity unit sought four A.I. servers equipped with Nvidia’s A100 chips. It specified that the equipment needed to support a tool called hashcat, which is used for password cracking.

采购记录为英伟达技术的用途提供了若干线索。2024年1月，中国军方的网络安全部队驻北京的一个下属部门寻求采购四台搭载英伟达A100芯片的人工智能服务器，并明确要求相关设备须支持一款名为"hashcat"的工具——该工具用于密码破解。

Mr. Costello said a military unit using A.I. servers to run hashcat software would most likely be using the chips to make it easier to break into password-protected accounts, including potentially training an A.I. system to do hacking.

科斯特洛表示，一个军事单位使用人工智能服务器运行hashcat软件，很可能是在利用这些芯片更容易地攻破受密码保护的账户，甚至可能训练一个人工智能系统执行黑客攻击。

It’s not clear if some military entities may have been acquiring Nvidia chips to try to break them down and understand their vulnerabilities or to replicate the technology.

目前尚不清楚某些军方实体获取英伟达芯片是为了拆解分析其漏洞，还是为了复制该技术。

The report also documents that research institutes linked to the Chinese military increasingly gained remote access to chips by renting them from commercial data centers.

报告还显示，与中国军方有关联的研究机构越来越多地通过租用商业数据中心算力的方式远程获得芯片使用权。

The Wirescreen research builds on an earlier analysis that found that China’s military was buying American chips to support its push into A.I.

Wirescreen的研究建立在此前一项分析的基础之上——该分析发现，中国军方正在采购美国芯片，以支持其推进人工智能发展的计划。

Senator Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana who is supporting the A.I. OVERWATCH Act, called the Chinese military’s access to U.S. chips a “national security crisis.”

支持《人工智能监管法案》的印第安纳州共和党参议员吉姆·班克斯将中国军方获取美国芯片的问题称为“国家安全危机”。

“China is doing everything it can to weaponize A.I. against the U.S. military,” he said. “Giving them access to America’s best A.I. chips will only quicken their efforts.”

“中国正在尽一切努力将人工智能武器化，以对抗美国军队，”他说。“让他们获得美国最先进的人工智能芯片，只会加快他们的步伐。”