Nvidia testing location-tracking software to curb AI chip smuggling

Nvidia is reportedly testing software to track the location of its AI chips amid reports of them being smuggled into China and other destinations.

Nvidia has developed location verification technology that can track the country in which a chip is located, according to a report by Reuters citing anonymous sources.

This software monitors computing performance and, by analyzing the latency in communication between servers, can provide insight into a chip’s physical location.

According to Reuters, customers will have the option to use this software, which will initially be available for Blackwell chips.

Numerous reports have emerged in the last few days alleging that China’s DeepSeek AI models have been trained on smuggled Nvidia Blackwell chips. However, Nvidia has responded to these reports by stating that it hasn’t seen any substantiated evidence of this type of smuggling.

“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.

The approval for Nvidia to begin selling its H200 AI chips to approved customers in China was reportedly granted by the U.S. government on Monday. This news precedes the current development by only a few days. Notably, this authorization is limited to the H200 chips and does not include the company’s newer Blackwell chips.