In October 2022, the Biden Administration announced that it would impose restrictions on the sale of new semiconductors to China, aiming to slow the progress of the Chinese tech sector. This has meant firms like Huawei have had to become increasingly creative to get around the restrictions, but it’s not easy. The US blocked the importation of advanced Nvidia GPUs to China to tighten control over critical AI technology and this has inadvertently ignited a thriving underground market there. Chinese buyers, undeterred by the sanctions, are employing remarkably ingenious tactics to smuggle in high-end Nvidia GPUs like the H100 and...