Politician in the U.S. proposes embedding trackers onto Nvidia graphics cards, enabling remote shutdown if the devices are exported to China.
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Take a gander at this:
When an industry inflates into a hot topic for national security, it sparks whispers about James Bond-style tech, like tracking and remote shutdowns. But this isn't about gaming PCs - we're talking about Nvidia's AI chips and the potential dilemma they might face if they land in China's hands.
According to Reuters, such surveillance and shutdown capabilities might just be possible, as per a bill proposed by Democrat Representative Bill Foster. The bill would require the production of AI chips, like Nvidia's, in a way that allows nations to trace their movements and potentially even cut power if they detect chips in restricted countries.
Foster tells Reuters that the technology already exists for such tracking and that a significant chunk of it is already integrated into Nvidia's chips. Although Nvidia has stated publicly that it can't track its products once they've been sold, experts interviewed by Reuters seem to disagree. Yet, there's allegedly already some bipartisan support for this bill.
It's China that the legislators are most concerned about regarding this bill. The intense competition for AI dominance between the US and China has seen the latter making strategic moves to secure powerful AI chips. That's primarily led to the imposition of export controls.
The US imposed export restrictions on China back in 2022. The plan was to divide the world into three categories: those who can buy American-made AI chips, those who can get some, and those who can't buy any at all. This was scheduled to kick off this month but might get tweaked by President Trump, who's said to be considering a license system for each country buying US chips.
Nvidia has pleaded with the country to boost the dissemination of American AI technology worldwide. But considering that, as a result of chip licensing restrictions, the company expects ~$5.5 billion in charges in Q1 alone, it seems unlikely the US will relax its grip.
Despite Nvidia's claims of debunking stories of China's grand smuggling operations, there are reasons for concern. It's already been noted that restricted chips have made their way into China's hands, leading to financial losses for companies like TSMC (over $1 billion after finding a chip in a Huawei processor). And when Nvidia suggests that "China is licking our heels" in the AI race, government officials have good reason to worry.
Still, ensuring exports are followed is a matter of policy. The question at hand is: How can the US ensure export restrictions are followed?
The latest bill proposes tracking as the solution to this issue, which would mean the chips regularly communicate with a server that estimates the travel time of the signal back to it. This would then give the US a rough idea of where the chip is - effectively, the country it's in.
Remote shutdown would be a different ballgame. It's tough to imagine how it could work in practice without allowing for loopholes. Then again, the state's technological prowess for national security might be far greater than we'd expect.
While I'm not entirely convinced that measures like this, even if executed flawlessly, would make it impossible for China to lay hands on working chips, I suppose the US would just have to make it too difficult for the country to even contemplate trying. Which might end up being the best move for everyone considering that China appears to be stepping away from dependence on American technology anyway.
Nvidia may be the only casualty in this situation. But I somehow think that, as the third-largest company in the world following Apple and Microsoft, Jensen Huang will continue to sport his extravagant jackets.
Jacob FoxJacob discovered the world of gaming when he got his first PC at 12. Although the local PC store swindled him on the initial build, it set him off on his lifelong journey as a hardware enthusiast. After working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN and pursuing a PhD in Philosophy (viva pending), Jacob joined PC Gamer full-time. His dual-life as a philosophy nerd led him through a mercenary stint with sites like TechRadar and Pocket-lint before fully committing to the world's #1 PC gaming site. Promise, it's not an ego thing. Swear.
- The competition for AI dominance between the US and China has been a significant general news topic, with the potential dilemma of Nvidia's AI chips landing in China's hands being a key concern.
- According to Democraic Representative Bill Foster, the technology already exists to track Nvidia's chips, a feature that could be integrated into the AI chips.
- Despite Nvidia's claims that it can't track its products once they've been sold, the latest bill proposes a solution of tracking as a means to ensure export restrictions are followed.
- In politics, there's allegedly already some bipartisan support for the bill, as both parties are concerned about China's strategic moves to secure powerful AI chips.
- Policy and legislation have been enacted to address these concerns, with the US imposing export restrictions on China in 2022, requiring trackable chips for some countries to purchase AI technology.
