* Two universities with links to PLA bought Super Micro

equipment with Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips

* Three people linked to Super Micro charged last week

with smuggling AI tech to China

* US senators have called for pause of exports of Nvidia

AI chips to China and intermediaries in Southeast Asia

By Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) - Four Chinese universities,

including two linked to the People's Liberation Army, bought

Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) servers with restricted AI chips

over the past year, procurement data shows, even as the U.S.

clamps down on sales of some advanced processors to China.

It was not clear how the servers were sourced.

Concerned about the potential for artificial intelligence

chips to enhance China's military capabilities, the U.S. from

2022 began banning the sale of some Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips such

as the A100 to China.

San Jose, California-headquartered Super Micro hit the

headlines last week when three people associated with the

company, including its co-founder, were charged with helping

smuggle at least $2.5 billion of U.S. AI technology to China.

The company was not named in the indictment and says it was

the victim of an elaborate scheme by the individuals.

Chinese universities have previously acquired restricted

chips in servers made by Super Micro and other manufacturers,

Reuters reporting from 2024 shows. But the continued practice,

particularly by institutions with links to the PLA, is likely to

stoke concerns of some U.S. lawmakers.

On Monday, two U.S. senators, citing the indictments of the

three people linked to Super Micro, urged U.S. Commerce

Secretary Howard Lutnick to consider pausing all export licenses

allowing advanced Nvidia AI chips and server systems to be sent

to China or intermediaries in Southeast Asia.

In addition to the universities that bought the Super Micro

servers, two others - including one linked to the military -

sought to make similar purchases, Reuters checks of publicly

available tender documents for 2025 and early this year show. In

those two cases, it was not clear if there was a successful

purchase.

Super Micro declined to comment on the information in the

documents. Nvidia ( NVDA ) said it continues to work closely with

customers and the U.S. government on compliance as export

regulations have expanded.

China's commerce ministry and the U.S. Commerce Department

did not respond to a request for comment.

A HOT-BUTTON ISSUE

Much remains unclear about how many sales of U.S. AI chips

to China will be acceptable to Washington and Beijing.

The Trump administration last year greenlighted the sale of

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) H200 chips - more powerful than currently restricted

products - albeit with a number of conditions that could limit

amounts sold.

For its part, Beijing, keen to bolster Chinese chipmakers,

has discouraged companies from purchasing U.S. AI chips. But

sources said this month that Nvidia ( NVDA ) has won Beijing's approval

to sell the H200. As yet, there have been no confirmed sales.

Critics of such sales worry that they will accelerate

research.

That "may in turn help improve China's weapons design and

testing, military planning and logistics, autonomous weapons

systems, or surveillance," said Jacob Feldgoise, senior data

research analyst at Georgetown University's Center for Security

and Emerging Technology.

Examples of procurement of restricted AI chips include a

document from Beihang University, one of China's "Seven Sons of

National Defense" institutions that plays a key role in

aerospace and defence research and is linked to the PLA.

It said in a March 16 notice this year it had procured a

machine-learning workstation built on a Super Micro system,

configured with four Nvidia A100 chips.

A July notice from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT),

another one of China's "Seven Sons" that has worked on missile,

satellite, and robotics technologies, shows it procured a Super

Micro system with eight Nvidia A100s.

Beihang University, located in Beijing, and HIT, based in

the northeastern city of Harbin, did not respond to Reuters

requests for comment. Both are on a U.S. export blacklist, which

makes it hard for U.S. companies to secure licenses to supply

them.