Commerce approved a specific H200 assembly transaction involving New Matrix, not the company generally.
Why it matters: The case highlights the difficulty of verifying licensees, ownership ties and end users in sensitive semiconductor transactions. It also underscores the compliance risks for Nvidia, suppliers and customers when approved sites may not appear operational.
- The Commerce Department approved roughly two dozen China-based companies for specific H200 transactions, according to The New York Times.
- Times reporters visited New Matrix's listed Beijing address and found an apparently empty, unfinished office; the building directory did not list the company.
- The New York Times reported that two New Matrix owners were connected to companies associated with Wise Road Capital, which was added to the U.S. Entity List in December 2024.
- The Bureau of Industry and Security shifted H200 applications from a presumption of denial to case-by-case review in January 2026.
The Commerce Department approved specific applications involving roughly two dozen Chinese companies to buy or handle Nvidia H200 chips, rather than approving those companies generally, according to The New York Times. New Matrix was authorized to assemble H200 chips into AI servers.
Times reporters visited New Matrix's listed Beijing address and found an apparently empty, unfinished office. The building directory did not list New Matrix, and property-management staff said they had no record of the company there, the newspaper reported. The same New York Times report said two principal New Matrix owners were connected to companies associated with Wise Road Capital. The available materials do not name those owners or identify the specific companies.
The Commerce Department added Wise Road to the U.S. Entity List in December 2024. The list is a U.S. export-control tool that imposes licensing requirements on exports to listed entities. The Federal Register notice described alleged efforts to help China acquire sensitive semiconductor-manufacturing capabilities and relocate them to China: the December 2024 notice.
Maginfra, another approved assembler, also reportedly had an apparently unused office. The New York Times linked Maginfra to Inspur, which is on the Entity List, but the supplied materials do not specify the ownership or corporate relationship between them. Liza Tobin, a former China director on the White House National Security Council, told the Times: “I have a ton of concerns that neither the Commerce Department nor Nvidia is doing the due diligence needed to ensure that the licensing terms are being followed.”
In January 2026, the Bureau of Industry and Security moved H200 applications to case-by-case review. The January 2026 rule requires exporters to certify that recipients have sufficient security procedures and that chips receive independent third-party testing in the United States. Nvidia said in its fiscal 2026 annual report that a February license permitted small shipments to specific China-based customers. The supplied materials do not provide the license's exact date or transaction number.
By the numbers
- Roughly two dozen - Chinese companies covered by the reported Commerce approvals
- Two - principal New Matrix owners referenced in the New York Times report
Yes, but: The available materials identify only month and year for the January 2026 rule, December 2024 Entity List action and February license. They also do not provide the names of New Matrix's owners, the companies connecting them to Wise Road, or an independent corporate-registration or property-management record.