By Emily Baker-White
Publication Date: 2025-11-22 11:30:00
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.
Ethan Pines for Forbes
Nvidia, the American chipmaking giant that’s faced restrictions over the sale of its advanced AI chips to China over fears they could be used against the U.S., has been advertising “compute” partnerships on its website with companies closely linked to the Chinese government, Forbes has learned.
One of those companies is ZTE, a telecom company that is partly owned by the Chinese government and has for years been subject to U.S. restrictions because of its ties to the Chinese military. In 2017, ZTE pled guilty to violating US sanctions on Iran and misleading regulators about it. In 2020, the FCC designated ZTE as a threat to U.S. national security, claiming the company, along with Huawei, “posed a unique threat to the security and integrity of the nation’s communications networks and communications supply chain.” In 2021, the company was added to the commission’s “Covered List,” and in 2022, the FCC voted to ban sales of new ZTE products in the U.S. The company is currently under FCC investigation for potential evasion of that ban.
Nvidia’s website lists 129 Chinese partners, split into three tiers: registered, preferred, and elite. ZTE is listed as elite. “Elite partners represent the deepest level of partnership with Nvidia and demonstrate the highest level of commitment to the partnership,” the website says.
Also listed among the company’s “elite” partners are Beijing Advanced Digital Technology…
