RAND warns Megaspeed AI chip rentals enable smuggling risk

The author argues that allowing Chinese firms to rent AI chips overseas creates a major smuggling risk, as untrusted cloud providers like Megaspeed act as off-balance-sheet vehicles for Chinese demand. As these front companies scale up compute capacity outside China, they pose a severe liability for bypassing US export controls and undermining future international AI agreements. The author suggests that the US must close the remote access loophole and implement stricter anti-smuggling mechanisms to prevent large-scale diversions. Open article →