US investigate potential Nvidia “Singapore” GPUs letting AI GPUs into China

Chinese companies, like DeepSeek, reportedly recieve advanced Nvidia AI GPUs from Singaporean intermediaries

US Authorities are investigating the possibility of a “Singapore loophole” in their AI export restrictions. A report from Bloomberg claims that the US government is investigating where DeepSeek got its stock of Nvidia AI chips, believing they came from intermediaries in Singapore.

Sales of Nvidia products to Singapore have surged in recent quarters. In their Q3 FY2025 financial report, Singapore accounted for 22% of Nvidia’s revenue. In Q3 FY 2023, Singapore accounted for 9% of Nvidia’s revenue. This is why many believe that Nvidia GPUs are being shipped to Singapore and later to China. US authorities are now investigating this possibility, aiming to crack down on these intermediaries.

SemiAnalysis believes that DeepSeek has over 50,000 Nvidia Hopper GPUs. This includes Nvidia H100, H800, and H20 models. All three of these GPUs have US export restrictions. How did DeepSeek get these GPUs? The American government wants to find out.

Despite US export restrictions, restricted GPUs are making their way to China, and the US plans to end this flow of powerful AI hardware. Will America succeed in this aim? Won’t Chinese companies find other ways to evade US sanctions? Will the US force Nvidia to manage its supply chains more carefully?

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