# Reuters Finds $3.2 Billion of Chinese AI Projects Designed Around Nvidia Chips the US Restricts, a Bet That Now Rests on Washington

Times of AI Desk · 2026-11-13 · Policy

[https://timesof.ai/2026/11/reuters-3-2b-chinese-ai-projects-built-on-restricted-nvidia-chips](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/reuters-3-2b-chinese-ai-projects-built-on-restricted-nvidia-chips)

> A Reuters review of more than 150 Chinese procurement notices, investment plans, contracts and company disclosures identified computing projects with a combined reported value above 23 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) built or planned around Nvidia's restricted H100, H200 and H800 processors, from a planned 6.2 billion yuan centre in Fujian to clusters already running in Wuxi. The total covers buildings, power and other infrastructure, not chip spending alone, and includes plans that may never be completed. Reuters does not establish how the hardware reached Chinese users, and the projects have not been linked to Megaspeed or the allegations around Jensen Huang.

Nvidia says export controls have shut it out of China's data-centre market. A Reuters review published on **November 13** suggests Chinese builders have not stopped designing around its chips: it found more than **$3.2 billion** of computing projects built or planned around Nvidia processors the United States restricts. The figure measures how much Chinese concrete, power and planning now depends on hardware Washington controls, not how many chips crossed the border.

## What Reuters found

Reuters examined more than **150** Chinese procurement notices, investment plans, construction contracts and corporate disclosures. The projects and equipment agreements it identified have a combined reported value above **23 billion yuan**, about $3.2 billion, and are designed around Nvidia's **H100**, **H200** and **H800** processors. They reach beyond China's largest tech companies into local-government ventures, universities and regional computing centres.

Several examples come from the review, as relayed by Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao:

| Project | Reported value | Nvidia chips named | Status reported |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Computing centre, Xianyou county, Fujian | 6.2 billion yuan | H100 | Seeking commercial partners |
| Computing centre, Shaanxi (Sinomach subsidiary) | 3 billion yuan | H100, H200 | Construction contract won |
| Computing project, Jilin | 2.26 billion yuan | H100 plus Chinese chips | In an April investment prospectus; about 80% to come from bank loans |
| Computing project, Inner Mongolia | 1.5 billion yuan | 625 H200 servers | Construction of two first-phase buildings began, per Chinese media in June |

Some restricted hardware is already running. Wuxi's government said in March last year that a local cluster using H800s had begun operating, and Shanghai-listed Greattown Holdings disclosed in June that a computing business it was involved in had built an H800 cluster, under a services contract originally worth 759 million yuan that was later ended early. A site in Gansu was expected to install thousands of Nvidia chips before the end of the year, though Reuters says it is unclear whether they arrived. The review sits alongside earlier Reuters reporting on [a blacklisted defence university buying H200s](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/nvidia-h200-northwestern-polytechnical-entity-list-reuters) and on [Chinese firms renting Nvidia capacity abroad](https://timesof.ai/2026/11/chinese-ai-firms-rent-overseas-nvidia-capacity-remote-access-reuters).

## What the number is and is not

The $3.2 billion is not a chip bill. Reuters says it includes planned investments and signed contracts as well as finished installations, and covers buildings, power systems and other infrastructure. Some of the plans may never be built as described.

Nor does it contradict Nvidia's own statements outright. Nvidia's August filing said it was effectively excluded from China's data-centre computing market, and Huang said last year that its share there had fallen from 95% to zero. An IDC estimate cited by Reuters in October put Nvidia at **34%** of Chinese AI-accelerator shipments in the first half of 2026. Reuters notes these figures measure different things and do not show how the restricted hardware reached Chinese users. In January the administration moved to review H200 export licences for eligible Chinese customers case by case, so the review alone cannot tell licensed hardware from smuggled hardware.

## Why the timing matters

The review lands a day after [Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/nyt-megaspeed-exec-chinese-intelligence-asset-jensen-huang), amid allegations involving a Megaspeed executive whom US authorities suspect of intelligence ties. Reuters reports that Huang's departure could weaken Nvidia's lobbying leverage as lawmakers press for tighter controls, leaving these operators exposed to delays, supply disruptions or costly redesigns around Chinese chips. "Washington must stop focusing solely on who buys the chips on the surface and start examining who ultimately uses the computing power," said Sunny Cheung, an analyst at the Jamestown Foundation.

## Limits

- This is one news organisation's document review; we have not seen the procurement notices or contracts, and no other outlet has independently replicated the total.
- The project-level examples come from Lianhe Zaobao's account of the Reuters report; the Reuters text we read in full, via Rappler's syndication, does not list each one.
- The projects have not been linked to Megaspeed or to the allegations around Jensen Huang, Reuters says, and there has been no public finding that Huang broke export-control laws.
- Nvidia and China's commerce ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters.

## Sources

- [Reuters via Rappler: Huang exit, US scrutiny imperil $3 billion in Chinese AI projects reliant on Nvidia (November 13, 2026)](https://www.rappler.com/technology/jensen-huang-exit-us-scrutiny-imperil-chinese-ai-projects-reliant-nvidia/)
- [Lianhe Zaobao: Reuters: Computing projects worth over US$3 billion in China use export-controlled Nvidia chips (November 13, 2026)](https://www.zaobao.com.sg/en/news/china/reuters-computing-projects-worth-over-us3-billion-china-use-export-controlled-nvidia-chips)