The cost of Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) restricted artificial intelligence chips has risen sharply on China’s black market during the past six months as tighter U.S. enforcement measures make it increasingly difficult to move advanced hardware into the country, according to a report from the Financial Times.
Black Market Prices Climb as Supply Tightens
Citing interviews with several Chinese chip traders, the Financial Times reported that Nvidia’s DGX B300 AI server now sells for more than 8 million yuan ($1.1 million), up from approximately 4 million yuan six months ago.
The DGX B300 system contains eight Blackwell graphics processing units and carries a typical U.S. price tag of around $400,000.
The substantial increase highlights growing demand for advanced AI computing hardware in China at a time when access to leading-edge U.S. technology remains heavily restricted.
RTX 6000 Pro Also Sees Sharp Price Increase
Another product affected by the tightening supply environment is Nvidia’s RTX 6000 Pro workstation chip, which is widely used by startups developing and deploying large language models.
According to the report, the chip’s price has climbed from roughly 50,000 yuan at the beginning of the year to as much as 130,000 yuan in recent transactions.
Both the RTX 6000 Pro and the DGX B300 are subject to U.S. export restrictions that prohibit their sale to customers in China under Washington’s semiconductor control measures.
US Enforcement Efforts Intensify
The rising prices come as U.S. authorities continue to strengthen efforts to prevent advanced AI hardware from reaching China through unauthorized channels.
In March, U.S. prosecutors charged a co-founder of Supermicro, along with a Taiwan-based employee and a contractor, in connection with an alleged scheme to smuggle Nvidia AI servers to Chinese buyers.
Authorities described the operation as involving approximately $2.5 billion worth of Nvidia AI systems, making it the largest U.S. law enforcement case to date involving the illegal export of advanced AI chips.
Demand for Advanced AI Hardware Remains Strong
Despite increasingly strict export controls, demand for Nvidia’s high-performance AI products remains robust among Chinese technology companies and AI developers.
The widening gap between official pricing and black-market values underscores the continued appetite for advanced computing infrastructure needed to train and operate artificial intelligence models, even as access to the latest U.S.-designed chips becomes more constrained.