US Cleared Shell Firms to Handle Restricted H200 Chips, NYT Finds

What happened

The investigation was published by The New York Times on Nov 7 and relayed the same day by The Verge: the Commerce Department approved about two dozen Chinese firms to assemble H200 chips into AI systems. Reporters visited the listed address of one of them, New Matrix, in a newly built industrial park on the northwestern edge of Beijing, and found an empty office: the building directory did not list the firm, and a receptionist and a manager at the park's property management office both said they had no record of it. The company's website, as of Nov 6, named no staff, advertised no jobs and gave no company history.

Chinese corporate records show two of New Matrix's main owners are linked to companies connected with Wise Road Capital, a Chinese private equity fund the US Commerce Department added to its Entity List in 2024 for helping China acquire sensitive chip companies. Two analysts who examined the corporate records and other Chinese-language material said they believed New Matrix may be a front for firms tied to that fund. Another approved firm, Maginfra, also showed no sign of operations when reporters visited in September: they found only a small locked room with a few chairs and empty desks. Analysts believe Maginfra is an offshoot of Inspur, a server maker on the Entity List for working with the Chinese military, and the two share staff and patents.

The report also names Zhejiang Yindun Cloud Technology, part of whose business runs from a data center owned by a cloud provider that has served a provincial defense satellite program. On policy: the Trump administration allowed H200 sales to China in December 2025, with the US government taking a 15-percent cut of sales; the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security published a revised policy on Jan 13, 2026, moving to case-by-case licensing that requires evidence on recipient security, customer screening, US chip supply and independent hardware testing, effective Jan 15. The reporting does not say any H200 chips were actually delivered to New Matrix, and an empty office is not itself evidence of wrongdoing; the Commerce Department has not publicly explained how it vetted the applicants, and the companies named did not respond to requests for comment.

Key facts

1. Reported by: The New York Times, Nov 7, 2026; The Verge relayed it the same day
2. Scale of approvals: about two dozen Chinese firms were licensed to handle H200 chips and assemble them into AI systems
3. New Matrix: created 17 months ago and approved earlier in 2026 to assemble H200 chips into AI servers
4. Site visit: the listed address in a newly built industrial park on Beijing's northwestern edge was empty, with no directory entry and no record at the property office
5. Website: as of Nov 6 it named no staff, advertised no jobs and gave no company history
6. Ownership: two main owners are linked to companies connected with Wise Road Capital; two analysts said the firm may be a front for companies tied to that fund
7. Wise Road Capital: added to the US Entity List in 2024 for helping China acquire sensitive chip companies
8. Maginfra: a September visit found only a small locked room with a few chairs and empty desks; analysts believe it is an Inspur offshoot sharing staff and patents
9. Zhejiang Yindun Cloud Technology: part of its business runs from a data center owned by Range Intelligent Computing, which has served a provincial defense satellite program
10. Limits: the reporting does not say chips were delivered; Commerce has not explained its vetting; the companies did not respond to requests for comment