🎯 TRUMP’S NVIDIA CHINA CHIP APPROVALS FACE SCRUTINY AFTER EMPTY-OFFICE FIRMS EMERGE 📍 BEIJING, CHINA 🟨 OUR ASSESSMENT: Empty offices are not, by themselves, proof of wrongdoing. The problem is that they expose a weakness in a regulatory system built on identifying who ultimately controls and benefits from advanced technology. If companies with limited operating footprints can pass review while maintaining links to restricted networks, export controls become far more dependent on ownership analysis than on formal corporate identities. The episode also creates pressure on Nvidia. Approval from Washington may no longer be enough protection if lawmakers conclude that downstream screening failed. Congressional investigators now have a concrete set of companies to examine rather than a theoretical debate about export controls. China's technology sector learns something from this as well. Any firm seeking access to advanced American chips now has an incentive to document ownership, operations and customer relationships more clearly. U.S. regulators, meanwhile, can no longer rely solely on licensing decisions and may be pushed toward deeper post-approval audits and verification. Writer: Sam