The US cleared dozens of Chinese firms to handle Nvidia's H200 chips, and the New York Times found one with an empty office and owners tied to a blacklisted fund

The stories

11 on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   The US cleared dozens of Chinese firms to handle Nvidia's H200 chips, and the New York Times found one with an empty office and owners tied to a blacklisted fund

   15%

   of Nvidia's H200 sales to China, paid to the US government

   the deal that let sales reopen [2]

   600,000

   H200 chips waiting in Hong Kong for China's permission

   several big Chinese firms got about 10,000 each [3]

   17 months

   how long New Matrix has existed

   its listed office near Beijing stands empty [1]

   under 1%

   of Nvidia's data-centre revenue came from H200 sales to China

   in its latest quarterly filing [4]

   What happened

   • The US Commerce Department has cleared dozens of Chinese firms to handle Nvidia's H200 AI chips. [1]
   • One of them, New Matrix, lists an address near Beijing that stands empty, the New York Times reported on Saturday. [1]
   • Its owners have ties to a Chinese private equity fund that the US put on a trade blacklist in 2024. [1]
   • At the building New Matrix lists as its address, the company directory does not include the firm. [1]
   • At the industrial park's property office, a receptionist and a manager said they had no record of it. [1]
   • Two analysts who read Chinese corporate records said New Matrix may be a front for firms tied to that fund. [1]
   • The Times says New Matrix fits a pattern that worries technology experts inside and outside the US government. [1]
   • Chinese firms tied to companies under US national-security trade limits are being cleared to buy and handle the chips. [1]
   • Nvidia says H200 sales to China came to under 1% of its data-centre revenue in its latest quarter. [4]

   Who is involved

   Nvidia is the world's biggest maker of AI chips. [11] The H200 is not its newest chip, but Chinese-made chips cannot yet match it. [3]

   New Matrix was set up 17 months ago, and little about it can be found online. [1]

   It was approved to build the H200s into the computers that create AI. [1]

   • Receptionist no record
   • Manager no record
   • US Commerce Department the US agency that reviews who may buy and handle the chips; it cleared New Matrix
   • New Matrix a 17-month-old Chinese firm cleared to build H200s into AI computers; its listed office is empty
   • Nvidia the world's biggest maker of AI chips; it pays the US 15% of its H200 sales to China
   • Jensen Huang Nvidia's boss and an ally of President Trump; lawmakers want to question him

   How it unfolded

   Before any sale, the US Commerce Department had to review each company involved for national security risks. [1] New Matrix passed. [1]

   The US had barred H200 sales to China until President Trump allowed them late last year. [1][3]

   The limits were eased after Nvidia agreed to give the US government a 15% cut of those sales. [2]

   About 600,000 H200 chips sit in Hong Kong, waiting for China's permission to enter, Reuters reported on Thursday. [3]

   China's government wants its firms to use Chinese chips instead, especially for running AI models. [4]

   Scarce supply pushed up prices: an eight-chip H200 server cost over 6 million yuan, about $900,000. [3] That is about 3 times its price a year earlier. [3]

   1. Late 2025 Trump allows H200 sales to China [1]
   2. Late last year Trump allows them
   3. 17 Nov Nvidia's results
   4. 18 Nov lawmakers' briefing
   5. 2024 the US blacklists a Chinese private equity fund [1]
   6. 2026 New Matrix passes the US Commerce Department review [1]
   7. 5 Nov 600,000 H200 chips reported waiting in Hong Kong [3]
   8. 7 Nov the Times reports New Matrix's office is empty [1]

   Why it matters

   The finding raises doubts that the US Commerce Department or Nvidia is checking Chinese buyers closely, The Verge writes. [2]

   How it works

   Analysts call a firm like this a front: it trades under its own name while others may stand behind it. [1]

   The Times checked the approval by going to the listed address and asking the property office nearby. [1]

   Seen it before

   A pupil kept off the school trip signs up again under a cousin's name, and the list never notices.

   The truth

   • What is really going on The US Commerce Department cleared Chinese firms to handle Nvidia's H200 chips, and the New York Times found that one, New Matrix, has an empty office and owners tied to a blacklisted fund. [1]The US government takes 15% of those sales. [2]
   • The front claim rests on corporate records and 2 analysts' reading of them, not on a US finding. [1]
   • Nvidia's spokesperson said the company sells 'the first, best and most of our technology in America'. [5]
   • Who gains The US government — Every H200 sale to China it approves pays it a share, so each licence it grants adds to its own takings. [2]
   • Who pays Chinese AI firms waiting for chips — With big imports held back by China's government, they turn to middlemen on an unofficial market that charges far more. [3]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Who is really behind New Matrix.

     Its owners have ties to a fund on the US blacklist, and two analysts believe it may be a front, but the Times could find little sign the firm exists at all. [1]

   • Nobody knows yet

     How many cleared buyers have ties to firms under US trade limits.

     The Times calls it a pattern, and the part of its report we could read gives no count. [1]

   What comes next

   Nvidia reports its third-quarter results on 17 November. [10] Lawmakers want to question its boss on 18 November. [10]

1. 02

   China's spy agency recruited Nvidia boss's contact

   What happened

   • US officials concluded that Alice Huang, a businesswoman close to Nvidia's boss, worked for China's main spy agency. [6]
   • China's Ministry of State Security recruited her to gather information on Jensen Huang and US AI chips. [6]
   • It also hoped she could sway Nvidia to push for its best chips to be sold to China. [6]
   • Singapore has opened its own inquiry into Megaspeed and reportedly questioned Alice Huang, the Wall Street Journal says. [9]

   Who is involved

   Alice Huang was an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore firm that buys Nvidia chips. [22] The two Huangs are not related. [22]

   • Alice Huang businesswoman, said to be a Chinese asset
   • Jensen Huang Nvidia's boss

   How it unfolded

   The Financial Times reported that US officials believe the two had a romantic relationship. [8]

   1. This week letter to Huang
   2. 18 Nov closed-door briefing

   Why it matters

   Jensen Huang is an influential ally of President Trump, the Times says. [6] He persuaded Trump to let some Nvidia chips be sold to China. [8]

   How it works

   Spy agencies call this a honeypot: an agent builds a close bond with a target to learn secrets. [11]

   After a huge Megaspeed chip order, a LinkedIn post showed Alice Huang having drinks with Jensen Huang. [11]

   Seen it before

   A new friend who keeps asking about your sister's exam answers may care more about the answers than about you.

   The truth

   • What is really going on US officials also say China's spy agency recruited a woman close to Nvidia's boss to push for better chips for China. [6]
   • The claims rest on unnamed people briefed on US surveillance. [6] Neither Huang has been charged with anything. [22]
   • Nvidia says its cloud customers get ordinary business information and nothing relevant to national security. [10]
   • China's government says the spying claims are 'groundless smears and slanders'. [11]
   • Nobody knows yet

     What, if anything, Alice Huang learned from Nvidia.

     The US findings are known only through unnamed people briefed on them, and Nvidia says its customers get only ordinary business information. [6][10]

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Jensen Huang will attend the 18 November briefing.

     Nvidia did not answer when CNBC asked. [10]

   What comes next

   Three US House committees have asked Jensen Huang to a closed-door briefing about his dealings with her. [7] They proposed 18 November. [10]

   Nvidia has not said whether Huang will go. [22]

2. 03

   TSMC answers a report on memory chips

   What happened

   • The Information reported that TSMC has begun planning memory chips at the request of Nvidia, its largest customer. [12]
   • A TSMC spokesperson said it 'focuses on our core business at all times, which is dedicated IC foundry'. [12]

   Who is involved

   TSMC is a foundry: a company that makes chips other firms design, such as Nvidia's. [12]

   The report said Hsu Kuo-chin, a TSMC vice president who once ran Micron's Taiwan arm, oversees the work. [12]

   • Hsu Kuo-chin TSMC vice president, once at Micron

   Why it matters

   Memory is now so short that it can decide whether a company can ship its products at all. [12]

   How it works

   Chip engineers call the planned kind 3D DRAM: memory cells stacked in layers instead of one flat sheet. [12]

   Stacking fits more memory on each silicon disc. [12] It is years away even for the big memory makers, so it cannot ease the shortage soon. [12]

   Seen it before

   A taller bookshelf holds more books, but it is no help if it takes years to build.

   The truth

   • Tom's Hardware reads TSMC's statement as a denial. [12] The Information's 2 sources still say the plans have begun. [12]
   • TSMC lacks the skills and factories to make memory, Tom's Hardware says, and would need billions of dollars of research. [12]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether TSMC is preparing to make memory chips.

     TSMC says it focuses on making chips for others, while The Information's 2 sources say the plans have begun. [12]

1. 04

   Judge keeps Claude Max claims alive

   What happened

   • A US judge ruled on Friday that Anthropic must face claims that it misled buyers of its Claude Max plans. [13]
   • It told buyers those plans gave 5 or 20 times the use of its Pro plan. [13]
   • Two buyers, Karl Kahn and Solomon Smith, did their own count for one Claude model. [13] Over a full week, they found 3.5 and 6 times. [13]
   • Judge Alex Tse dismissed several other claims, including two under California's false advertising and unfair business laws. [13]

   Who is involved

   Anthropic makes Claude, an AI chatbot, and sells Max plans at $100 and $200 a month. [13]

   Why it matters

   The ruling turns on where the limits were explained: on the sales pages, or on a help page. [13]

   How it works

   Anthropic sets usage limits for two windows at once: each 5-hour session, and each week. [13]

   Max multiplied the 5-hour limit by 5 or 20, but not the weekly limit. [13] So the week runs out first. [13]

   Seen it before

   A gym pass that lets you stay all evening is less use if it only opens on a few evenings.

   Why a reporter goes to the address on the form

   Journalists call it the discipline of verification: a claim is checked against the thing itself, such as the office, the product or the person.

   The twist

   A paper check can only test whether the forms agree with each other. A visit to the address, a count of real use or a test of the recipe shows whether the forms are true.

   The picture

   On the approved listNew Matrix

   vsvs

   At its Beijing addressan empty shell

   Step by step

   1. 1 A claim arrives on paper
   2. 2 Someone checks it against the thing itself
   3. 3 The paper and the thing do not match
   4. 4 The mismatch becomes the story

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • The Claude Max lawsuit

     Two buyers counted their own weekly use and found 3.5 and 6 times, where the sales page said 5 and 20.

   • A maths professor's hiring plan

     Calegari wants a 30-minute talk, because a paper on file no longer shows who did the thinking.

   • NYT Cooking's AI helper

     The reviewer checked the AI's amounts against the original recipe and caught it giving half the butter.

   Where you've seen this

   Food inspectors

   They visit the kitchen instead of reading the restaurant's own cleaning log.

   Science

   A result is trusted once another lab repeats it, not when the first lab reports it.

   Buying a used car

   A test drive checks what the advert says.

   The catch

   Going to look costs time and money, so most claims are never checked. A visit also sees only what is there on the day.

   And the whole of it

   Most of what anyone knows about a company, a product or a buyer comes from that party's own words. The US Commerce Department worked from paperwork too, and only a few claims ever get a visit, a count or a test.

   The truth

   • Anthropic said buyers should read the promise as per session, and pointed to a help page. [13] The judge wrote that page sat 'two hyperlinks away' from the sales pages. [13]
   • Who pays Heavy Claude Max users — They run out of their weekly allowance before the session limit they paid for, the buyers say. [13]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How much weekly use Claude Max really gives.

     The buyers counted for one Claude model only, and the case has not reached a verdict. [13]

   What comes next

   The buyers can now pursue claims that Anthropic carelessly misled them and broke its contract. [13]

1. 05

   Meta's strategy chief joins Fireworks

   What happened

   • Dave Wehner, Meta's chief strategy officer, is leaving to become finance chief of Fireworks, an AI start-up. [14]
   • It was valued at $17.5 billion in July. [14] It is in early talks to raise money at $30 billion to $40 billion, Business Insider reported. [14]

   Who is involved

   Wehner joined Facebook, now Meta, in 2012, and was its finance chief from 2014 to 2022. [14]

   Fireworks, founded in 2022 by former Meta and Google staff, runs open AI models for other businesses. [14]

   How it unfolded

   In October, Fireworks found an outsider had used its internal login details to reach settings in a few customer accounts. [14]

   1. 2012 joins Facebook, now Meta
   2. 2014-2022 Meta's finance chief

   Why it matters

   Its vice president, Rob Ferguson, says Fireworks pushes customers away from running AI on their own machines. [15]

   How it works

   Ferguson says AI chips must stay fully used, because hardware that sits idle wastes its cost. [15]

   He says 10,000 graphics chips cost about $1 billion. [15] 'You don't want those things to be sitting idle,' he said. [15]

   Seen it before

   A bike bought for one ride a month costs far more per ride than one rented when needed.

   The truth

   • Ferguson's claim that mixing AI models halves a bill comes from Fireworks itself, which sells that mixing. [15]
   • Who gains Fireworks — It gets a finance chief who ran Meta's books for 8 years, just as it talks to new investors. [14]
2. 06

   Leaked files show Cisco's Israel work

   What happened

   • Leaked documents show Cisco worked to keep Israel's military intelligence as a customer during the Gaza war. [16]
   • Cisco workers who object to those ties leaked the documents to the Guardian. [16]
   • Cisco sent staff to fix the faults, and later called the rescue a 'customer success story'. [16]
   • Israel's military intelligence contracts brought Cisco about $67m over 3 years, a 2025 document shows. [16]
   • This year Splunk, a Cisco data company, pitched to join Project Nimbus, Israel's cloud deal with Google and Amazon. [16]

   Who is involved

   Cisco makes the routers, servers and systems that move data for companies, governments and armies. [16]

   How it unfolded

   A year into the war, repeated outages hit the intelligence networks, and the client threatened to cancel. [16]

   1. 7 Nov leaked files published
   2. This month shareholder vote

   Why it matters

   An organiser at 7amleh, a Palestinian digital rights group, says the bigger cloud deals depend on Cisco's hardware. [16]

   How it works

   Investors call it a human rights assessment: an outside review of how a firm's business affects people's rights. [16]

   A group of investors wants Cisco to commission one on its work with Israel's military. [16]

   The truth

   • Cisco did not answer the Guardian's questions. [16] Israel's military said it does not comment on other firms' contracts. [16]
   • Who pays Palestinian, Arab and Muslim staff at Cisco — A US agency found reasonable cause to believe Cisco let a hostile workplace grow after October 2023; Cisco disagrees. [16]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Splunk joined Project Nimbus.

     The leaked documents show Cisco's data company pitching for the deal, but not whether it went through. [16]

   What comes next

   Cisco's shareholders are due to vote on that proposal at its general meeting this month. [16]

3. 07

   Democrat writing AI plans buys AI shares

   What happened

   • Josh Gottheimer, a US Democrat helping write his party's AI plans, disclosed new purchases of AI-linked shares. [17]
   • In October his accounts bought up to $15,000 each of Benchmark Electronics and Applied Materials shares. [17]

   Who is involved

   Gottheimer, a former Microsoft executive, sits on a House panel that oversees AI in finance. [17]

   Applied Materials makes chip-making machines. [17] Benchmark earned 30% of its third-quarter sales from equipment for making chips. [17]

   • Josh Gottheimer US House Democrat, New Jersey

   How it unfolded

   In July he voted for a bill to stop members of the US Congress buying most single shares. [17] It passed the House but is not law. [17]

   1. July House passes trading ban
   2. Now not yet law

   Why it matters

   Democrats take control of the US Congress in January, with new power to investigate the AI industry. [17]

   How it works

   His filing gives each trade as a band, such as $1,001 to $15,000, not an exact sum. [17]

   So his 5 AI trades add up to somewhere between $5,005 and $75,000. [17]

   Seen it before

   A form that asks if you are a child, a teen or an adult tells the school roughly, never exactly.

   The truth

   • CNBC found no evidence of wrongdoing. [17] His spokesman says a third party with full control has run his investments since 2017. [17]
4. 08

   Snapchat turns off friend-finding for UK teens

   What happened

   • Snapchat is switching its Find Friends tool off by default for UK users under 18, starting this month. [18]

   Who is involved

   Find Friends suggests people to add, using a user's age, location and existing friends. [18]

   Ofcom, the UK's online safety regulator, announced the change. [18]

   How it unfolded

   Ofcom has accused Snapchat before of not doing enough to protect children. [18]

   The UK also plans to ban social media for under-16s, and the EU is investigating Snap over young users. [18]

   1. This month Find Friends off
   2. End of year age checks

   Why it matters

   Ofcom can fine a firm up to 18 million pounds or 10% of its worldwide revenue. [18]

   The truth

   • Ofcom's Oliver Griffiths called the change 'long overdue'. [18]

   Good news

   • He called it an important and welcome improvement for children's safety online. [18]

   What comes next

   Snap will add 'highly effective age checks' by the end of this year, Ofcom says. [18]

5. 09

   First US digital air traffic towers open

   What happened

   • The US Federal Aviation Administration has switched on its first digital air traffic control towers. [19]
   • They run at 2 small airports, Bartow in Florida and Kenai in Alaska, with 5 more regional airports next. [19]
   • The FAA says the towers do not replace human controllers. [19]

   Who is involved

   Its head, Bryan Bedford, said: 'we're giving them better technology to do that'. [19]

   • Controllers still in charge
   • Cameras extra eyes

   How it unfolded

   The US Congress approved $12.5bn over 5 years in June 2025 to update air traffic control. [19] The Trump administration wants another $30bn. [19]

   A midair crash near Washington DC in 2025 killed 67 people and put control towers under close scrutiny. [19]

   1. This week 2 towers open
   2. Next week House committee hearing

   Why it matters

   The upgrade aims to replace copper phone lines, floppy disks and paper strips still used to track aircraft. [19]

   How it works

   A digital tower uses cameras and screens to give controllers a 360-degree view of runways and nearby sky. [19]

   Good news

   • The first digital air traffic control towers in the US are now working, at Bartow airport in Florida and Kenai airport in Alaska, and 5 more regional airports get them next.

   What comes next

   Bedford faces questions on the upgrade from a House committee next week. [19]

6. 10

   A maths professor wants talks, not papers

   What happened

   • Frank Calegari, a maths professor at the University of Chicago, wants mathematicians hired on talks, not papers alone. [20]
   • He fears junior research posts going to people who only churned out AI-made proofs. [20]
   • He wrote that hiring 'is going to have to be much more about personal interactions than a paper file'. [20]
   • A 30-minute talk would separate those candidates from ones with a clear vision, he argues. [20]

   Who is involved

   • Frank Calegari maths professor, University of Chicago

   How it unfolded

   His essay appeared on mathematician Terence Tao's blog. [20]

   Why it matters

   OpenAI has sent the field hundreds of proposed solutions to hard maths problems, Business Insider reports. [20]

   How it works

   Calegari wants a 30-minute talk, because a paper on file no longer shows who did the thinking.

   The idea, in story 04: Why a reporter goes to the address on the form →

   The truth

   • Some professors have sworn off AI, while most are trying to fit it into their work. [20]
   • Who gains Mathematicians who explain their work well — Calegari wants committees to weigh a candidate's vision for the field, told in person, as well as their papers. [20]
   • Who pays Candidates whose papers came mostly from AI — Calegari wants committees to stop hiring on a single paper, which AI can now produce. [20]
7. 11

   NYT Cooking adds an AI recipe helper

   What happened

   • NYT Cooking, the New York Times recipe app, has added an AI assistant that rewrites recipes on request. [21]
   • It leaves the tested recipe alone and writes a new version beside it. [21]
   • Asked how much butter a cake needed, it answered from its own half-size version without saying so. [21]

   Who is involved

   It is open to subscribers on iPhones first. [21] It was trained partly on readers' comments under the recipes. [21]

   Why it matters

   Many recipe purists distrust the tool, because the app's value is recipes real people have tested. [21]

   How it works

   The reviewer checked the AI's amounts against the original recipe and caught it giving half the butter.

   The idea, in story 04: Why a reporter goes to the address on the form →

   The truth

   • That was 6 tablespoons instead of the original's 3/4 of a cup. [21]
   • The Verge's reviewer still checked amounts and cooking times against the original. [21]