A Chinese university with longstanding ties to the People's Liberation Army purchased two of Nvidia's most powerful processors last month despite being barred from receiving controlled U.S. technology, according to procurement records reviewed by Reuters.

Northwestern Polytechnical University, based in Xi'an, paid 874,700 yuan, or approximately $123,000, for two Nvidia H200 chips through a domestic technology supplier, according to an October 21 procurement notice. The university also obtained access to computing servers containing restricted Nvidia processors through several contracts with Chinese companies.

The university belongs to China's “Seven Sons of National Defense,” a group of institutions known for conducting research connected to the country's military and defense industries. Its work includes research involving military aircraft, missiles and satellites.

The U.S. Commerce Department placed Northwestern Polytechnical on its Entity List in 2001 over alleged involvement in missile-proliferation activities and military research. Restrictions were tightened in 2019, making export licenses for controlled American technology destined for the university subject to a general policy of denial in most circumstances.

The H200 is among Nvidia's most advanced processors for training and operating sophisticated artificial intelligence systems. Although President Donald Trump's administration began allowing certain H200 exports to China on a case-by-case basis in January, those approvals did not remove restrictions on blacklisted institutions such as Northwestern Polytechnical.

Procurement records show the university's management school purchased the two chips from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology rather than directly from Nvidia. Its cybersecurity school also awarded two seven-month contracts in January for access to servers containing eight H200 chips each. The contracts, valued at 441,700 yuan and 441,000 yuan, covered AI model fine-tuning and reinforcement-learning training.

The university separately rented access to servers containing eight Nvidia A100 processors and eight A800 processors. Both models are restricted from export to Chinese entities. Another university institute purchased computing services in April under a 375,000-yuan contract requiring access to at least 24 A100 chips for structural and fluid-dynamics simulations.

A Reuters review of 26 Chinese procurement and corporate records from this year found multiple universities and research institutions purchasing restricted Nvidia processors or renting computing capacity powered by the chips through domestic suppliers. Several institutions had connections to China's defense industry or military research.

Other purchases included three Nvidia H100 processors acquired by Shenzhen University for 769,800 yuan in September. Wuhan University of Technology purchased a server containing an H100 chip for 355,000 yuan in June and separately bought four A100 processors for 344,000 yuan.

Beihang University, another member of the Seven Sons of National Defense, purchased four A800 processors for 489,000 yuan in April. Government procurement announcements also identified suppliers providing computing services using restricted H800 and A800 chips to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The records provided limited information about where the processors originated or where the rented servers were physically located. Under Chinese law, public procurement agencies must verify that suppliers can fulfill orders before awarding contracts.

The findings come as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang faces increased scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over his efforts to ease restrictions on the company's chip sales to China. Huang has argued that allowing American companies to continue selling processors there would help maintain U.S. technological leadership and keep Chinese customers dependent on American technology.

Some lawmakers, however, have warned that access to advanced Nvidia processors could help Beijing develop military applications, including weapons design, intelligence analysis and other defense capabilities. Members of both parties have called for stronger export controls, including chip-tracking requirements and increased congressional oversight.

Three Republican congressional committee chairmen have requested a November 18 briefing with Huang concerning reports of his contacts with an alleged Chinese intelligence operative. The request follows separate reporting that he was targeted by a Chinese spying operation.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, Nvidia and Northwestern Polytechnical did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reuters said it could not determine contact information for the Chinese supplier involved in the direct chip purchase.

The latest findings add to previous Reuters reporting documenting restricted Nvidia processors entering China through domestic resellers, overseas inventories and third-country intermediaries. Last week, the outlet reported that small quantities of H200 chips had reached China through indirect channels even as Beijing withheld approval for large-scale imports.