32 Blackwell Ultra B300 GPUs Detected in State-Owned Chinese Network

Security researchers have confirmed the presence of 32 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300 GPUs within the network of China Telecom, a state-owned telecommunications provider in China. This discovery is significant because the B300 series is currently barred from export to China under U.S. regulations, raising immediate questions about how these high-performance chips bypassed strict controls to land in a major domestic data center.

The identification was made by the Israeli security firm Lava, which utilized Nvidia’s own Data Center GPU Manager (DCGM) Exporter tool to locate the hardware. While this software is designed for internal health and performance monitoring, it is often accessible from outside the data center’s network and frequently lacks mandatory password authentication. Although Lava confirmed the chips are present, the exact location within China Telecom’s infrastructure remains unverified, as does the specific method by which they entered the server racks.

Nvidia has responded to the findings with a tone of dismissal rather than denial. A company spokesperson characterized the incident as "insignificant diversion," noting that recent court cases have shown controlled U.S. products are diverted at a rate of less than 0.5%. The spokesperson argued that this volume is "a drop in the bucket" compared to the massive amount of domestic computing power China already possesses, suggesting that smuggling remains a non-factor given the tens of millions of GPUs already in service in approved countries.

The B300 chip is particularly coveted due to its advanced capabilities. Announced in March 2025, the GPU offers 50% more memory and FP4 compute performance than its predecessor, the B200. Nvidia marketed the chip as "built for the age of reasoning," specifically highlighting its compatibility with sophisticated large language models. Its status as a top-tier AI processor makes it a prime target for illicit acquisition, a trend that has persisted since 2025 when reports indicated that $1 billion worth of Nvidia AI chips were smuggled into China in just three months.

The current finding follows a wave of enforcement actions related to GPU smuggling. In August 2026, nine individuals were indicted in Taiwan for the illegal export of B300 GPUs. This occurred shortly after Supermicro confirmed it had fired employees involved in a smuggling investigation. Reports suggest the illicit trade involves complex schemes, such as the use of whitelisted Taiwanese server trading firms like Flying Tiget Tech to facilitate purchases that would otherwise be restricted.

The scarcity and high demand for these chips have also driven up the prices of older Nvidia hardware. A100 servers, which are five years old, have seen their prices triple, with units now selling for up to $82,000. This economic pressure has even led some operators to retool gaming GPUs to handle AI workloads, illustrating the intense demand for computing power in the region. As Nvidia continues to develop tools to track its chips, the tension between U.S. export controls and the global demand for AI infrastructure shows no signs of abating.