Artificial Intelligence1 min read

Chinese AI lab Moonshot turned to Europe for Nvidia Blackwell access amid U.S. China curbs, sources tell CNBC

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Moonshot AI has engaged in discussions this year to lease data center capacity powered by Nvidia Blackwell systems hosted across Europe. The creator of the Kimi model series is attempting to overcome intense capacity shortages caused by heightened demand for its cost-effective alternative to American artificial intelligence tools. In some negotiations, proposed terms required the Chinese startup to pay up to 50% more upfront than standard customers to mitigate risks tied to impending policy restrictions.

Key points

  • Existing American export rules ban direct chip shipments to China but do not broadly rest…: Existing American export rules ban direct chip shipments to China but do not broadly restrict renting cloud capacity from overseas facilities.
  • The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Remote Access Security Act in January to lim…: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Remote Access Security Act in January to limit foreign cloud access, but the bill awaits Senate approval.
  • Nvidia has reportedly directed cloud providers hosting its hardware to ensure that a mini…: Nvidia has reportedly directed cloud providers hosting its hardware to ensure that a minimum of 51% of their services serve non-Chinese customers.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Moonshot AI, a Chinese artificial intelligence lab that the White House accused of accessing Nvidia advanced chips remotely in East Asia, has sought access to the chips through data centers in Europe, sources have told CNBC.

Deals have been discussed this year for Moonshot to rent capacity from neoclouds hosting Nvidia graphics processing units, or GPUs, at facilities in Europe, four people familiar with the matter said. They asked not to be named because they were discussing private information.

Nvidia's effective monopoly over the most powerful chips has made U.S. export controls a key tool in Washington's effort to preserve its advantage over China in the AI race. American AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic are locked in a training and pricing battle with Chinese developers, including Moonshot AI, which makes the Kimi family of models.

Moonshot was looking to lease capacity powered by Nvidia's Blackwell systems, advanced chips currently subject to those export controls which effectively ban their import into China, three of the sources told CNBC.

In July, the White House said the Chinese AI lab had…

Artificial Intelligence