Analysis Claims Chinese AI Models Kimi K3 and DeepSeek V4 Trained on Banned Nvidia Chips
Researcher Will DePue alleges that weight analysis provides evidence Moonshot AI and DeepSeek used restricted Nvidia Blackwell GPUs for training despite US export bans.
According to a report by German tech outlet t3n, Will DePue, head of the non-profit research group Unemployment Labs, claims to have found "convincing evidence" that Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 and DeepSeek's V4 series models were trained on Nvidia Blackwell GPUs. The analysis relies on examining connection strengths within model weights, which are said to reflect the configuration of the underlying training hardware. These high-performance chips are subject to strict US export controls prohibiting direct sales to China.
DePue, a former OpenAI employee who worked on post-training for o3 and 4o models, stated that large language model weights contain signatures of the compute infrastructure used during training. This finding offers new technical clues regarding how Chinese AI laboratories may be circumventing restrictions on advanced compute access. Previously, White House technology advisor Michael Kratsios cited intelligence sources alleging illegal use of Nvidia chips by Moonshot AI, while Epoch AI estimated that approximately two million advanced chips flowed into China through indirect channels between 2024 and 2025.
TechCrunch notes that this analysis does not prove the models relied exclusively on Nvidia hardware nor necessarily indicate legal violations, as the chips could have been located in offshore data centers. Regulatory consequences from these findings remain unclear.