Underground Chinese Repair Shops Bring Banned Nvidia AI Chips Back to Life

In China, a booming underground repair business is helping keep Nvidia AI chips like the A100 and H100 in use. These GPUs are hard to find in China because of strict export rules, but they are still in high demand for powering artificial intelligence projects.

Many of these chips are secretly brought into the country or sold without official support. Because they do not come with warranties and often break after long use, local repair shops are stepping up to fix them. Some shops are fixing up to five hundred of these powerful chips every month, making good profits and supporting the needs of AI companies.

This secret repair network has become an important part of China's tech industry. It helps recycle valuable hardware and keeps research and businesses running despite international restrictions.

Original article and image: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/underground-china-repair-shops-thrive-servicing-illicit-nvidia-gpus-banned-by-export-restrictions-companies-resurrecting-banned-ai-accelerators-at-a-rate-of-up-to-500-per-month