Nvidia tests chip-tracking software amid rising allegations of smuggled AI hardware to China

Nvidia is reportedly experimenting with location-tracking technology for its AI chips as concerns grow about high-end processors being smuggled into China. According to Reuters, the company has developed a system that can verify the country in which a chip is operating. The software analyses computing performance and communication delays between servers, allowing Nvidia to roughly determine a chip’s geographic location.

The feature is expected to debut as an optional tool for customers using the company’s next-generation Blackwell chips. It comes at a time when multiple reports have claimed that China’s DeepSeek AI models were trained using smuggled Blackwell hardware. Nvidia has pushed back against the claims, saying it has found no evidence of covert data centres being constructed, dismantled and relocated to bypass export controls. The company said it investigates every credible tip but considers the latest allegations “far-fetched.”

The scrutiny arrives shortly after the US government cleared Nvidia to resume selling its older H200 chips to approved customers in China, a move that does not extend to the newer and more powerful Blackwell line. That distinction has fuelled speculation that prohibited chips may be entering the country through grey channels.

As export restrictions tighten and demand for advanced AI hardware accelerates, Nvidia’s tracking experiment signals growing pressure on chipmakers to monitor how their technology is deployed. Whether the software becomes widely adopted will likely depend on how customers respond to the idea of built-in location verification on future AI systems.