Nvidia is reportedly developing and testing new software designed to track the physical location of its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips. This move comes as the company faces a surge in allegations regarding the smuggling of its powerful AI processors, particularly into China.
According to a Reuters report, which cited anonymous sources, Nvidia has built location verification technology capable of identifying the approximate country where a chip is operating. This software functions by tracking computing performance, with delays in communication between servers providing clues about a chip's geographical position.
The tracking software is expected to be an optional feature for customers and will initially be rolled out for Nvidia's cutting-edge Blackwell chips, Reuters added.
The development follows multiple recent reports, including one alleging that China's DeepSeek AI models have been trained on smuggled Nvidia Blackwell chips. Nvidia has publicly addressed these claims, stating it has not found any evidence to substantiate such smuggling activities.
“We haven’t seen any substantiation or received tips of ‘phantom data centers’ constructed to deceive us and our OEM partners, then deconstructed, smuggled, and reconstructed somewhere else. While such smuggling seems far-fetched, we pursue any tip we receive,” an Nvidia spokesperson told TechCrunch.
This news emerges just days after Nvidia received approval from the U.S. government to begin exporting its H200 AI chips to approved customers in China. It's important to note that this approval pertains specifically to the older H200 series and does not include the company's newer, more advanced Blackwell chips.
