How a Mumbai drugmaker is helping Putin get Nvidia AI chips, 27 October 2024

...A Bloomberg News analysis of data compiled by trade-tracking firms ImportGenius and NBD shows that Shreya exported 1,111 units of Dell Technologies Inc.’s most-advanced servers to Russia in April-August of this year.

The servers, known as PowerEdge XE9680, contain high-end processors optimized for artificial intelligence made by Nvidia Corp. or Advanced Micro Devices Inc., according to Dell’s website. Specification data available for 998 shipped servers show they were equipped with Nvidia’s H100 chips.

The servers — and the chips they contain — are on a list of items restricted by the US and the European Union “to target sensitive sectors in Russia’s military industrial complex.” Yet the shipments, worth $300 million and imported by two Russian trading companies, Main Chain Ltd. and I.S LLC, were just the latest in a series of advanced technology exports Shreya made perfectly legally to Russia since September 2022, the data showed.

Shreya did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and no one was available to do so during two visits to its office.

The findings underscore the holes in western government attempts to shut off Moscow’s access to dual-use technology with potential military applications, as well as the cutting-edge nature of the equipment being shipped. India is increasingly the intermediary of choice: It’s now the second-biggest supplier after China of restricted technology to Russia, Bloomberg reported Oct. 12...

While India is the point of transshipment, trade data suggest that Malaysia is in fact the origin. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with President Vladimir Putin in Russia in September, and hailed the “enormous potential” to enhance regional trade relations, including through advanced technologies.

Shipping documents of at least 834 PowerEdge XE9680 units destined for Russia showed their country of origin as Malaysia. Indian import data for March-August 2024 reveals that 1,407 of the same Dell units were imported to India from Malaysia. Neither Malaysia’s Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry nor the Prime Minister’s Office responded to an email seeking comments.

The tech companies themselves are obligated to follow sanctions rules and monitor any sales of sensitive products. In a statement, Dell said that it had ceased selling and offering services or support for products in Russia in February 2022, immediately following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and maintains “a strict trade compliance program.” Nvidia and AMD said that they work with partners to ensure that sales are in “full compliance” with export controls, and take appropriate action if any violations are identified...