US Congress: China Uses 'Buy What It Can, Steal What It Must' Strategy to Acquire Frontier AI Chips

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a comprehensive investigation report on April 16 titled 'Buy What It Can, Steal What It Must: China's Campaign to Acquire Frontier AI Capabilities.' The report details how China systematically uses both legal procurement (stockpiling before controls take effect), gray market channels (transshipment through third countries), and outright theft to acquire US semiconductor technology and frontier AI capabilities. Key findings: China routed billions in Nvidia GPU purchases through intermediaries in Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the UAE; Chinese entities have acquired AI chip servers worth at least $92 million in banned Nvidia hardware disclosed to Beijing regulators; model distillation techniques allow Chinese labs to extract capabilities from US AI models without direct hardware access. The report noted that China's acquisition campaign has accelerated significantly since the October 2022 export controls, with the dollar value of chips acquired through gray channels estimated to have increased 300%+ since restrictions took effect.