Moonshot sought Nvidia chip rentals in Europe amid U.S. curbs, CNBC reports

U.S. restrictions on chip shipments have not closed off overseas cloud access. Moonshot AI has explored that route in Europe, discussing rentals of Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell computing capacity, CNBC reported on November 5, 2026. The arrangements would provide computing power without importing the chips into China, but no completed lease was confirmed.

Renting access rather than importing hardware

Four people familiar with the matter told CNBC that discussions had taken place this year about Moonshot renting Nvidia computing capacity in Europe. They spoke anonymously because the information was private. Three of those sources identified Blackwell systems as the hardware Moonshot was seeking.

The route relies on a distinction between buying restricted hardware and renting its output. A Chinese company would typically contract with a non-Chinese cloud provider or data-center operator that can purchase advanced Nvidia chips. The processors would remain at overseas facilities while the customer paid to use their computing capacity.

U.S. export controls effectively bar Blackwell shipments to China. Current law, however, does not give regulators broad authority to control access to those chips through cloud services hosted abroad. The European discussions concern this remote-access route, rather than a proposal to ship Blackwell hardware into China.

There is a directly relevant precedent, though it remains an official allegation. In July, the White House said Moonshot had accessed Blackwell chips through a facility in Thailand. One source told CNBC that talks about European capacity had taken place since that White House statement.

Serving models comes into focus

The reported interest was not limited to computing used to train models. Two sources said Moonshot wanted European clusters for inference—the work of running models to serve end users. That would make the capacity relevant to delivering its AI services, not only to developing future systems.

One source also described interest in training clusters. That part of the account rests on a single source, compared with two for inference and three for Blackwell access overall. The distinction matters: the discussions covered more than one possible use, but the sourcing is stronger for serving models.

Policy risk reaches the proposed bill

Computing rentals typically involve an upfront payment equal to a portion of the contract’s lifetime value, alongside fees for capacity. One source said a proposal called for Moonshot to pay 30% to 50% more upfront than a non-Chinese customer would. CNBC did not report that Moonshot accepted those terms.

The proposed premium concerns the amount paid at the start, not a stated increase of that size in the total contract price. CNBC described larger upfront payments from Chinese customers as a way for cloud providers and financing firms to hedge against a future ban on remote-access agreements.

A legislative effort would address that access directly. The Remote Access Security Act would extend U.S. export controls to cloud-based access to critical hardware and software. It passed the House of Representatives in January but had not passed the Senate as of November 5, leaving it a proposed change rather than an enacted restriction.

Moonshot, Nvidia, the White House and the U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.