Exclusive: Chinese entities turn to Amazon cloud and its rivals to access high-end US chips, AI
独家：中国实体转向亚马逊云及其竞争对手以获取高端美国芯片和人工智能

BEIJING/SINGAPORE/NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - State-linked Chinese entities are using cloud services provided by Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab or its rivals to access advanced U.S. chips and artificial intelligence capabilities that they cannot acquire otherwise, recent public tender documents showed.
北京/新加坡/纽约，8 月 23 日（路透社） - 近期公开招标文件显示，中国国有企业正在使用亚马逊 (AMZN.O), opens new tab 或其竞争对手提供的云服务，以获取他们无法通过其他方式获得的先进美国芯片和人工智能能力。

The U.S. government has restricted the export of high-end AI chips to China over the past two years, citing the need to limit the Chinese military's capabilities.
过去两年，美国政府以限制中国军力为由，限制了高端人工智能芯片对中国的出口。

Providing access to such chips or advanced AI models through the cloud, however, is not a violation of U.S. regulations since only exports or transfers of a commodity, software or technology are regulated.
然而，通过云提供此类芯片或先进人工智能模型并不违反美国法规，因为只有商品、软件或技术的出口或转让受到监管。

A Reuters review of more than 50 tender documents posted over the past year on publicly available Chinese databases showed that at least 11 Chinese entities have sought access to restricted U.S. technologies or cloud services.
路透社对过去一年在中国公开数据库中发布的 50 多份招标文件进行的审查显示，至少有 11 家中国实体寻求获得受限的美国技术或云服务。

Among those, four explicitly named Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a cloud service provider, though they accessed the services through Chinese intermediary companies rather than from AWS directly.
其中，有四家明确将亚马逊网络服务 (AWS) 列为云服务提供商，但它们是通过中国中介公司而不是直接从 AWS 获得服务的。

The tender documents, which Reuters is the first to report on, show the breadth of strategies Chinese entities are employing to secure advanced computing power and access generative AI models. They also underscore how U.S. companies are capitalising on China's growing demand for computing power.
这些招标文件是路透社首次报道，显示了中国实体为获得先进计算能力和访问生成式人工智能模型而采用的各种策略。它们还强调了美国公司如何利用中国对计算能力不断增长的需求。

"AWS complies with all applicable U.S. laws, including trade laws, regarding the provision of AWS services inside and outside of China," a spokesperson for Amazon's cloud business said.
亚马逊云科技（AWS）发言人表示，AWS 遵守所有适用的美国法律，包括与在中国境内和境外提供 AWS 服务相关的贸易法。

AWS controls nearly a third of the global cloud infrastructure market, according to research firm Canalys. In China, AWS is the sixth-largest cloud service provider, according to research firm IDC.
据研究公司 Canalys 的数据，AWS 占据全球云基础设施市场近三分之一的份额。根据研究公司 IDC 的数据，AWS 在中国是第六大云服务提供商。

Shenzhen University spent 200,000 yuan ($27,996) on an AWS account to gain access to cloud servers powered by Nvidia A100 and H100 chips for an unspecified project, according to a March tender document. It got this service via an intermediary, Yunda Technology Ltd Co, the document showed.
据 3 月份的招标文件显示，深圳大学花费了 20 万元人民币（27,996 美元）购买了一个 AWS 账户，以获得由英伟达 A100 和 H100 芯片驱动的云服务器的访问权限，用于一个未公开的项目。文件显示，他们通过一家名为云达科技有限公司的中介公司获得了这项服务。

Exports to China of the two Nvidia chips, which are used to power large-language models (LLM) such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, are banned by the U.S.
美国禁止向中国出口这两种英伟达芯片，它们被用于为大型语言模型 (LLM)（如 OpenAI 的 ChatGPT）提供动力。

Shenzhen University and Yunda Technology did not respond to requests for comment. Nvidia declined to comment on Shenzhen University's spending or on any of the other Chinese entities' deals.
深圳大学和云达科技没有回复置评请求。英伟达拒绝就深圳大学的支出或任何其他中国实体的交易发表评论。

Zhejiang Lab, a research institute developing its own LLM, GeoGPT, said in a tender document in April that it intended to spend 184,000 yuan to purchase AWS cloud computing services as its AI model could not get enough computing power from homegrown Alibaba (9988.HK), opens new tab.
浙江实验室，一家正在开发自己的LLM GeoGPT 的研究机构，在 4 月份的招标文件中表示，计划花费 184,000 元购买 AWS 云计算服务，因为其 AI 模型无法从本土阿里巴巴(9988.HK), opens new tab获得足够的计算能力。

A spokesperson for Zhejiang Lab said that it did not follow through with the purchase but did not respond to questions about the reasoning behind this decision or how it met its LLM's computing power requirements. Alibaba's cloud unit, Alicloud, did not respond to a request for comment.
浙江实验室发言人表示，他们没有继续进行购买，但没有回应有关此决定的理由或如何满足其LLM计算能力需求的问题。阿里巴巴的云计算部门阿里云没有回复置评请求。

Reuters could not establish whether or not the purchase went ahead.
路透社无法确定这笔交易是否已经完成。

The U.S. government is now trying to tighten regulations to restrict access through the cloud.
美国政府现在正试图收紧监管，限制通过云的访问。

"This loophole has been a concern of mine for years, and we are long overdue to address it," Michael McCaul, chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters in a statement, referring to the remote access of advanced U.S. computing through the cloud by foreign entities.
“多年来，这个漏洞一直是我关注的问题，我们早就应该解决它，”美国众议院外交事务委员会主席迈克尔·麦考尔在给路透社的一份声明中说，指的是外国实体通过云对美国先进计算的远程访问。

Legislation was introduced in Congress in April to empower the commerce department to regulate remote access of U.S. technology, but it is not clear if and when it will be passed.
4 月份，国会提出了一项立法，赋予商务部监管美国技术远程访问的权力，但目前尚不清楚该立法是否以及何时会通过。

A department spokesperson said it was working closely with Congress and "seeking additional resources to strengthen our existing controls that restrict PRC companies from accessing advanced AI chips through remote access to cloud computing capability."
该部门发言人表示，他们正在与国会密切合作，“寻求更多资源来加强我们现有的控制措施，以限制中国公司通过远程访问云计算能力获取先进人工智能芯片。”

The commerce department also proposed a rule in January that would require U.S. cloud computing services to verify large AI model users and report to regulators when they use U.S. cloud computing services to train large AI models capable of "malicious cyber-enabled activity".
商务部还在 1 月份提出了一项规则，要求美国云计算服务商验证大型人工智能模型用户，并在使用美国云计算服务训练能够进行“恶意网络活动”的大型人工智能模型时向监管机构报告。

The rule, which has not been finalized, would also enable the commerce secretary to impose prohibitions on customers.
该规则尚未最终确定，也将使商务部长能够对客户实施禁令。

"We are aware the commerce department is considering new regulations, and we comply with all applicable laws in the countries in which we operate," the AWS spokesperson said.
我们知道商务部正在考虑新的法规，我们遵守我们在运营的所有国家/地区的适用法律。

The Chinese entities are also seeking access to Microsoft's (MSFT.O), opens new tab cloud services.
中国实体也在寻求访问微软的(MSFT.O), opens new tab云服务。

In April, Sichuan University said in a tender document it was building a generative AI platform and purchasing 40 million Microsoft Azure OpenAI tokens to support the delivery of this project. The university's procurement document in May showed that Sichuan Province Xuedong Technology Co Ltd supplied the tokens.
4 月，四川大学在招标文件中表示，正在建设一个生成式人工智能平台，并购买了 4000 万个微软 Azure OpenAI 令牌来支持该项目的交付。该大学 5 月份的采购文件显示，四川省学东科技有限公司提供了这些令牌。

Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment. Sichuan University and Sichuan Province Xuedong Technology did not respond to requests for comment on the purchase.
微软没有回应置评请求。四川大学和四川省学东科技没有回应关于购买的置评请求。

OpenAI said in a statement its own services are not supported in China and that Azure OpenAI operates under Microsoft's policies. It did not comment on the tenders.
OpenAI 在一份声明中表示，其自身服务在中国不受支持，Azure OpenAI 在微软的政策下运营。该公司没有对招标发表评论。

The University of Science and Technology of China's (USTC) Suzhou Institute of Advanced Research said in a tender document in March that it wanted to rent 500 cloud servers, each powered by eight Nvidia A100 chips, for an unspecified purpose.
中国科学技术大学（中科大）苏州先进技术研究院在 3 月份的招标文件中表示，他们希望租用 500 台云服务器，每台服务器配备 8 个英伟达 A100 芯片，用于未公开的目的。

The tender was fulfilled by Hefei Advanced Computing Center Operation Management Co Ltd, a procurement document showed in April, but the document did not name the cloud service provider and Reuters could not determine its identity.
招标文件显示，合肥先进计算中心运营管理有限公司在 4 月份中标，但文件未提及云服务提供商名称，路透社无法确定其身份。

USTC was added to a U.S. export control list known as the 'Entity List' in May for acquiring U.S. technology for quantum computing that could help China's military, and involvement in its nuclear program development.
中国科学技术大学（USTC）于 5 月被列入美国“实体清单”，原因是其获取了用于量子计算的美国技术，这些技术可能有助于中国的军事发展及其核计划的开发。

USTC and Hefei Advanced Computing Center did not respond to requests for comment.
中国科学技术大学和合肥先进计算中心没有回应置评请求。

Amazon has offered Chinese organisations access not only to advanced AI chips but also to advanced AI models such as Anthropic's Claude which they cannot otherwise access, according to public posts, tenders and marketing materials reviewed by Reuters.
据路透社审查的公开帖子、招标书和营销材料显示，亚马逊不仅向中国组织提供了先进的 AI 芯片，还提供了他们无法获得的先进 AI 模型，例如 Anthropic 的 Claude。

"Bedrock provides a selection of leading LLMs including prominent closed-source models such as Anthropic's Claude 3," Chu Ruisong, President of AWS Greater China, told a generative AI-themed conference in Shanghai in May, referring to its cloud platform.
“Bedrock 提供了一系列领先的 LLMs，包括像 Anthropic 的 Claude 3 这样的知名闭源模型，”AWS 大中华区总裁储瑞松在 5 月上海的一次生成式 AI 主题会议上谈到其云平台时表示。

In various Chinese-language posts for AWS developers and clients, Amazon highlighted the opportunity to try out "world-class AI models" and mentioned Chinese gaming firm Source Technology as one of its clients using Claude.
在针对 AWS 开发人员和客户的各种中文帖子中，亚马逊强调了尝试“世界一流 AI 模型”的机会，并提到了中国游戏公司 Source Technology 作为其使用 Claude 的客户之一。

Amazon has dedicated sales teams serving Chinese clients domestically and overseas, according to two former company executives.
据两位前亚马逊高管透露，亚马逊在中国国内和海外都设有专门的销售团队服务中国客户。

After Reuters contacted Amazon for comment, it updated dozens of posts on its Chinese-language channels with a note to say some of its services were not available in its China cloud regions. It also removed several promotional posts, including the one about Source Technology. Amazon did not give a reason for removing the posts and did not answer a Reuters query on that.
路透社联系亚马逊寻求评论后，亚马逊在其中文频道上更新了数十篇帖子，说明其部分服务在其中国云区域不可用。亚马逊还删除了几篇促销帖子，包括关于 Source Technology 的帖子。亚马逊没有说明删除帖子的原因，也没有回复路透社的询问。

"Amazon Bedrock customers are subject to Anthropic's end user license agreement, which prohibits access to Claude in China both via Amazon's Bedrock API (application programming interface) and via Anthropic's own API," the AWS spokesperson said.
亚马逊 Bedrock 客户受 Anthropic 最终用户许可协议的约束，该协议禁止在中国通过亚马逊的 Bedrock API（应用程序编程接口）和 Anthropic 自己的 API 访问 Claude，AWS 发言人表示。

Anthropic said it does not support or allow customers or end-users within China to access Claude.
Anthropic 表示，它不支持也不允许中国境内的客户或最终用户访问 Claude。

"However, subsidiaries or product divisions of Chinese-headquartered companies may use Claude if the subsidiary itself is located in a supported region outside of China," an Anthropic spokesperson said.
然而，总部位于中国的公司的子公司或产品部门可以使用Claude，如果子公司本身位于中国以外的支持地区，"一位 Anthropic 发言人说。

Source Technology did not respond to a request for comment.
源技术公司没有回复置评请求。

($1 = 7.1440 Chinese yuan renminbi)
（1 美元 = 7.1440 中国人民币）