{
  "id": 18882340,
  "title": "Empty offices, ties to blacklisted firms: Inside the Chinese companies the US cleared for Nvidia chips",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/empty-offices-ties-to-blacklisted-firms-inside-the-chinese-companies",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-08T06:48:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/global/empty-offices-ties-blacklisted-firms-inside-chinese-companies-us-cleared-nvidia-chips"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a recently constructed industrial park on Beijing's northwestern edge, the listed address of a company called New Matrix remains vacant, an empty, grey shell with dangling wires from the ceiling where lights should be. In 2026, the Trump administration approved this Chinese firm to assemble Nvidia's advanced chips into AI computers. President Donald Trump allowed the sale of the H200 chips to China in late 2025. Yet, according to The New York Times' recent checks, New Matrix appears to be a facade, with little evidence of its existence in China. The company was established 17 months ago, and the only information available online is sparse. New Matrix's address listed on the building belongs to an empty office, with no record of the firm in the nearby property management agency. Chinese corporate records reveal that New Matrix's owners have ties to a prominent Chinese private equity fund that the US government blacklisted in 2024. Two analysts believe New Matrix might be a front for firms associated with that fund. The sale of chips to New Matrix is part of a pattern raising concerns about the Trump administration's scrutiny of who can acquire Nvidia's chips. These chips are vital for AI data centers and are precious commodities in the ongoing economic and geopolitical competition between the US and China. Several other Chinese companies with ties to blacklisted firms or military contractors in China have been approved to purchase H200 chips or assemble them into servers. Former China director for the White House National Security Council, Liza Tobin, questions the thoroughness of the Trump administration's checks on licensing terms. During the Biden administration, the US tightened restrictions on AI chip sales to China due to fears of military advancement by Beijing. However, Trump eased these limits after Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, with whom he developed a close relationship during his second term. In December 2025, Trump permitted Nvidia to sell H200 chips to China, requiring the US government to receive a 25% tariff on the sales. Nvidia currently sells only limited amounts of H200 chips to China, with Chinese government approval for purchases being slow due to a push for domestic chip development. Although China represents a significant market for AI technology, direct sales to the country account for less than 1% of Nvidia's data center revenue in the quarter ending July. Many Chinese companies access Nvidia chips through Southeast Asian data centers, making these chips a critical focus for Beijing. In October, The Times reported that Nvidia CEO Huang had a close relationship with an individual suspected of being a Chinese intelligence asset, as Megaspeed, the company she worked for, was investigated for smuggling chips into China. New Matrix's registered address is at a compound used for corporate registrations, but its address changed to an empty office in an industrial park this fall. New Matrix's website does not disclose any staff members, job advertisements, or historical information as of November 6. Its primary owners are listed in the records of companies connected to a sanctioned Chinese private equity firm, Wise Road, and Li Bin, chair of Tsinghua Unigroup, a government-owned technology conglomerate.",
  "summary": "Approvals raise questions about how rigorously the Trump administration is policing who can get their hands on the chips",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The New York Times",
        "title": "U.S. Cleared Nvidia Chips to Chinese Firms With Empty Offices and Troubling Ties",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/07/u-s-cleared-nvidia-chips-to-chinese-firms-with-empty-offices-and",
        "published": "2026-11-07T10:00:40.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}