Despite US sanctions, Russia is reportedly gaining access to NVIDIA’s most advanced chips through a rather “sophisticated” backdoor, which is said to be located at a pharmaceutical company in India.
Russia and China seek to accumulate AI computing power through ‘inevitable’ workarounds
Well, the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce the influence of US technology on global markets don’t seem to be going very well, as sanctioned countries have found new workarounds to access high-end AI hardware. From GPU rental services to a black market presence, NVIDIA’s AI chips are in markets they shouldn’t be, and a new report from Bloomberg shows that Russia is denying others access to NVIDIA’s H100 AI chips. It seems like you’re getting it. More than the Indian backdoor, the total value of shipped equipment is up to $300 million.
According to the report, Indian pharmaceutical company Shreya Life Sciences has shipped 1,111 units of Dell’s cutting-edge AI cluster, the PowerEdge XE9680, which is equipped with cutting-edge AI accelerators from NVIDIA and AMD, among others. Specifications for the shipped items indicate Russia will have access to NVIDIA’s H100 AI chips, which are integrated into Dell’s server units. Interestingly, this is a clear violation of both US and EU export laws, as Russia is prohibited from receiving Team Green’s AI chips.
Russia is alleged to be using its AI computing capabilities to enhance military and war applications, as well as promoting domestic AI efforts, particularly as this equipment is being used against Russia. , which has become a concern for U.S. authorities. Continued aggression in Ukraine. However, India is not the only country involved. The entire supply chain does not involve a small number of parties, as Dell PowerEdge servers are imported from Malaysia and shipped from India to Russia, according to shipping manifests. Rather, it’s the entire network.
Given India’s significant relationship with Russia, this trade is not a violation of domestic law, but given that India is an emerging nation when it comes to AI capabilities and only recently, it is a “red flag” for world powers. ” Might be. , NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang visited India to report on the integration of Blackwell processors into the country’s AI clusters, but the country is also concerned about supplying cutting-edge equipment to adversaries like Russia. The US may have to take tough decisions to cut off supplies.
That is why we say that simply banning the export of certain products will not work, given that individuals will find workarounds and we have seen many such cases. Given that these markets are too large for NVIDIA to ignore, NVIDIA cannot simply cut off supply, making appropriate supply chain regulation for the United States and its allies to prevent technology transfer. .
