Moonshot may have used servers with Nvidia B300 AI chips in China in circumvention of US export restrictions
Documents indicate that Moonshot rented 32 servers with Nvidia B300 chips in China for its Kimi models, despite US bans on supplying these accelerators. The company disputed the accuracy of the documents.
In August, Moonshot entered into a server leasing agreement with Supermicro, which included the latest Nvidia B300 AI accelerators. According to the documents, the equipment is located in China, but it was not possible to determine whether a US export license was obtained. This may indicate a circumvention of export restrictions. Moonshot itself stated that it has no business relationship with the specified server owner and did not consent to the conclusion of financing agreements or the provision of guarantees.
The financing for the purchase was arranged by the equipment owner Lingmeixin (Beijing) Technology Co. and Beijing Zhongguancun Bank. The loan amounted to 200 million yuan, with the servers themselves and revenue of 345.6 million yuan under a service contract with a Moonshot legal entity serving as collateral. The documents emphasize that Moonshot gains the right to use the computing power but does not become the owner of the equipment.
Each server is valued at 13.5 million yuan. Bloomberg notes that this is approximately 350% higher than the market price in the US and may reflect equipment shortages due to sanctions. The documents do not specify how the servers ended up with a Lingmeixin subsidiary or at what price they were purchased.
US authorities previously accused Moonshot of training some models on accelerators that are not officially supplied to China. The company is developing the Kimi K3 model and plans to go public in Hong Kong. Nvidia stated that the companies that signed the August agreement are not its clients, while Supermicro said it does not conduct business with them and complies with US export regulations.
