Chinese companies reportedly have access to high-end American GPUs through Amazon and Microsoft clouds
To prevent China from misusing AI for military purposes, the US government has imposed strict export restrictions to prevent Chinese companies from using high-performance GPUs made in the US. However, Reuters has reported that Chinese companies are circumventing these restrictions by using cloud computing services such as those from Amazon.
Exclusive: Chinese entities turn to Amazon cloud and its rivals to access high-end US chips, AI | Reuters
On August 23, 2024, Reuters reported that an examination of more than 50 bidding documents published in a public database in China revealed that 'at least 11 Chinese companies were seeking access to US technology and cloud services that would otherwise be restricted.'
Four of the 11 companies reportedly nominated Amazon Web Services (AWS) as their cloud service provider, but instead of accessing AWS directly, they received the services through Chinese intermediaries.
A March 2024 bidding document obtained by Reuters shows Shenzhen University paying 200,000 yuan (approximately $40,000) to an AWS account for use of cloud servers equipped with Nvidia's A100 and H100 chips for an unknown project. Both the A100 and H100 chips are banned from export to China. Shenzhen University also used an intermediary, Yunda Technology, to access the AI chips, rather than using AWS directly.
by Web Summit
The US government has previously restricted the export of high-performance AI chips to China in order to limit the capabilities of the Chinese military, but these restrictions only apply to the 'export or transfer of technology,' so providing access to such chips and AI models through the cloud does not violate the law.
A spokesperson for Amazon's cloud business told Reuters: 'ASW complies with all applicable US laws, including trade laws, regarding the provision of AWS services inside and outside of China.'
Similarly, Chinese organizations have had access to Microsoft's cloud. For example, Sichuan University announced in April 2024 in bidding documents that it would purchase 40 million Microsoft Azure OpenAI tokens to build a generative AI platform. A subsequent procurement document issued by Sichuan University in May stated that Sichuan Province Xuedong Technology had supplied the tokens to the university.
Microsoft did not respond to Reuters' request for comment, and OpenAI issued a statement saying its services are not supported in China and that Azure OpenAI is subject to Microsoft policy, but did not address the bid.
In the past, TikTok has been found to be using this method to develop AI, and this Reuters report reveals that this is a common tactic used by Chinese companies.
TikTok is renting NVIDIA GPUs on the cloud to circumvent sanctions, a common tactic used by Chinese companies - GIGAZINE
The US government is working to close the regulatory loophole that allows data to be sent via the cloud, but it is lagging behind. Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, 'This loophole has been a concern of mine for many years, and it is long past time to address it.'
In April, a bill was introduced in Congress that would give the U.S. Department of Commerce the authority to regulate remote access to American technology, but it is unclear if and when it will pass.
A Commerce Department spokesperson said: 'We are working closely with Congress to seek additional resources to strengthen regulations to prevent China from gaining access to advanced AI chips through remote access to cloud computing.'
As if to get ahead of these trends, Chinese companies are shaping the way to monetize AI without using high-performance chips by streamlining code and miniaturizing models, The Wall Street Journal reports .
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in AI, Software, Web Service, Posted by log1l_ks