Moonshot AI tried to tap Nvidia Blackwell chips via Europe, sources say

What is being pursued and why it matters

Moonshot AI has been exploring ways to use Nvidia's advanced processors through European data centers, four people with knowledge of the discussions said. The setup would involve renting capacity from non-Chinese neocloud or data center operators that can buy high-end Nvidia GPUs.

Three of those people said Moonshot specifically targeted Nvidia's Blackwell systems, which are covered by U.S. export controls that effectively prevent their import into China. In July, the White House said Moonshot had accessed Blackwell chips through a facility in Thailand.

Scope of the talks and the scale on the table

Two sources said Moonshot was eyeing European clusters for inference, the serving of models to end users. One of those sources was also aware of interest in training clusters. Separately, one person with knowledge said discussions included renting time on clusters in the region containing 8,000-plus Blackwell GPUs, and characterized Moonshot as "very aggressive" in its pursuit of compute.

One source said discussions about locking down European compute continued after the White House's Thailand disclosure. Leasing AI compute is booming, with offtakers paying for capacity and putting money down upfront as a share of the contract's lifetime value. In Moonshot's case, a proposal surfaced for an upfront premium of 30% to 50% compared with a non-Chinese offtaker, reflecting efforts by neoclouds and financiers to hedge against potential future bans on remote access deals.

Policy pressure and Nvidia's stance

U.S. rules limit sending Nvidia's most cutting-edge processors to China, yet companies can still reach them by remotely tapping servers located overseas. Current law does not grant regulators broad authority to police access via overseas cloud services.

In Washington, legislators introduced the Remote Access Security Act to broaden export rules so they also cover cloud-based access to vital hardware and software. The measure cleared the House in January, but it has yet to pass the Senate.

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According to the Financial Times, Nvidia instructed cloud operators that provide access to its chips to reserve at least 51% of services for customers outside China. When asked about the reports, an Nvidia spokesperson said: "America cannot win the AI race unless America's AI infrastructure wins worldwide - if the world's clouds rely on foreign-made chips, the model and application layers will be foreign-built as well." In August, Nvidia said Washington had cleared licenses for select transactions using the H200 AI chips it offers - a prior-generation product - and added that "such sales were restricted" on the grounds that China's government seeks to aid homegrown semiconductor makers by curtailing availability of Nvidia chips.

Requests for comment went unanswered by Moonshot, Nvidia, the White House, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Embassy of China in the U.K., and the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Moonshot's growth and the investment take

Founded in 2023 and based in Beijing, Moonshot AI builds the Kimi family of models. In July, it released a new system that it said narrowed the gap with top models from Anthropic and OpenAI and gained traction as a lower-cost option. Chinese AI models have expanded global adoption in 2026 amid improving capabilities and lower prices, and further access to Nvidia compute could turn up the heat on American rivals.

Around the Kimi K3 launch, Moonshot said demand outpaced its capacity and it paused new subscriptions to prioritize existing users. In a LinkedIn post, the company said, "We're adding capacity as fast as we can and will reopen new subscription spots in batches."

The bottom line: if remote access and leasing pathways keep opening, the cost and availability of AI compute could shift, which feeds directly into margins and competitive dynamics for AI builders your portfolio might touch.

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