IC Technology & Cyber — 2026-11-15

US-Sanctioned Jinan Supercomputing Center Still Gets Nvidia AI Products Despite Entity List

BLUFBIS action against Qiyuan Jiasu or enforcement tied to the Jinan supercomputing center's Nvidia purchases is very unlikely by the end of December 2026, as the public evidence falls well short of what Commerce typically requires to designate or penalize a supplier.

Radio Free Asia reported that a June 17 Chinese government procurement notice lists Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics cards and DGX Spark systems in a 148,500 yuan (about $22,000) award from the Shandong Computing Center, also called the National Supercomputing Center Jinan 123. The U.S. Commerce Department added the center to the Entity List in April 2021, which in principle requires a license for transfers of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, with a presumption of denial 1. The winning bidder, Qiyuan Jiasu (Tianjin) Technology, shares website text, addresses and an identical client list with Sitonholy, an Entity List company since April 2024 14. RFA noted that no direct evidence ties the two companies' ownership, that the notice does not specify quantities or whether the RTX 5090 was a China-specific variant, and that Nvidia, Qiyuan Jiasu and the center had not responded 13.

Analysis
Confidence is moderate, resting on a single original investigation by Radio Free Asia, which three outlets merely republish, and on a procurement notice with no identified primary document behind it and no sign of an open BIS case. The evidence shows only overlapping website text, addresses and client lists with Sitonholy, not common ownership, and the notice omits quantities and whether the RTX 5090 was a China-specific variant. Commerce therefore lacks a clear basis for action. BIS is very unlikely to add Qiyuan Jiasu to the Entity List or announce enforcement tied to the Jinan purchases between November 16 and December 31, 2026. Qiyuan Jiasu may be an unrelated reseller that copied a competitor's marketing, and the Nvidia products may have arrived through authorized channels, leaving no violation to enforce. Nvidia's response, any BIS statement, and the Senate NDAA chip-tracking provision would shift this. Inaction leaves compliance staff and Congress relying on pending tracking language rather than new enforcement, while action would signal that BIS acts on open-source procurement findings.

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