From Unemployment Labs · · 1m 20s
Top Chinese AI Models Use NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs
Chinese AI labs use NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs despite export restrictions, according to forensic analysis.
In brief
Chinese AI labs use NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs despite export restrictions, according to forensic analysis. Six Chinese AI models were initialized on export-controlled NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, suggesting access to restricted hardware. Originally reported by Unemployment Labs.
Forensic Evidence
Analysis of six Chinese AI models shows numerical patterns matching NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs despite export restrictions.
“Our forensic analysis of publicly released AI models finds evidence that DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, MiniMax and Ant Group have gained access to NVIDIA’s Blackwell GPUs”
Hardware Fingerprint
Model weights reveal 148 or 152 processor cores matching Blackwell B200/B300 or GB200/GB300 chips.
“DeepSeek-V4-Flash and MiniMax-M3 match NVIDIA’s Blackwell-class B200 or B300 chips, which have 148 processor cores”
Timeline of Models
DeepSeek models switched from Hopper to Blackwell in April 2026; Moonshot AI followed in July 2026.
“DeepSeek’s models read as Hopper-trained through DeepSeek-V3 (released in December 2024), and as Blackwell from DeepSeek V4 (released in April 2026)”
Six Models Affected
DeepSeek-V4-Flash, DeepSeek-V4-Pro, Kimi K3, Kimi K3.1-Pro, MiniMax-M3 and Ling-3.1-flash use Blackwell GPUs.
“Six models from four Chinese labs read as Blackwell-trained”
Training Scale
Each model required 500 to 3,000 Blackwell GPUs for two to three months of training.
“From each model’s size and the amount of data it was trained on, we estimate that each run needed roughly 500 to 3,000 Blackwell GPUs”
AMD Alternative
AMD MI300X could theoretically match Blackwell patterns but evidence shows NVIDIA usage.
“On a physical MI300X, DeepSeek-V4-Flash’s preserved weights point to NVIDIA: in the 377 values where the two vendors’ results differ, the published weight matches NVIDIA’s in 363 and AMD’s in none”
Statistical Evidence
Evidence ranges from 49 to 1,385 sigma, far stronger than random chance.
“The strongest evidence for each of the six models ranges from 49 to 1,385 sigma”
U.S. Export Controls
Blackwell GPUs require U.S. export licenses for China; none have been reported.
“• Requires a U.S. license for export to China; none have been reported”
Verification
Reproduced weights match Blackwell patterns on NVIDIA hardware without modification.
“On the B300, unmodified PyTorch reproduced 461 of the 469 selected rows in DeepSeek-V4-Flash with correlations above 0.99”
Conclusion
Strong evidence suggests six Chinese AI models were initialized on export-controlled NVIDIA hardware.
“Based on our forensic investigation, we believe that we have strong evidence that six Chinese AI models were initialized on export-controlled NVIDIA hardware”
The one thing
Six Chinese AI models were initialized on export-controlled NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, suggesting access to restricted hardware.
