From MIT Technology Review · · 2m
Nvidia admits it can track chips, contradicting public stance
Nvidia privately told a lawmaker it could implement chip-tracking technology to prevent smuggling to China, even as the industry group it belongs to publicly called such measures infeasible.
In brief
Nvidia privately told a lawmaker it could implement chip-tracking technology to prevent smuggling to China, even as the industry group it belongs to publicly called such measures infeasible. Nvidia privately confirmed to a US lawmaker it could implement chip-tracking measures to prevent smuggling, contradicting its…
Nvidia's private message to lawmakers
Nvidia representatives told Illinois representative Bill Foster the company could technically implement chip-tracking measures required by the Chip Security Act to prevent smuggling to China.
What the Chip Security Act requires
The bill would introduce geotracking requirements to verify the location of advanced AI chips and prevent their smuggling to China.
Industry publicly opposed the bill
In March 2026, the Semiconductor Industry Association, of which Nvidia is a member, explicitly opposed the bill and wrote that its mandates for chip tracking were new, untested, and potentially infeasible.
“new, untested, and potentially infeasible”
Nvidia's private acknowledgment
During technical discussions with Foster, Nvidia representatives said they could implement the tracking safeguards. Foster says they never put anything in writing, but their reaction was yeah, of course we can do this.
“yeah, of course we can do this”
Fleet Intelligence shows capability
In December 2025, Nvidia announced Fleet Intelligence, a tool allowing customers to monitor advanced chips across data center locations. The tool could indicate which country chips were in, Nvidia confirmed to Reuters.
Smuggling scandal at Nvidia
Alice Huang, with whom Jensen Huang reportedly had an affair, runs Megaspeed, a Singaporean firm under investigation for smuggling advanced GPUs to China. A US Commerce Department inquiry was reportedly halted after intervention by Nvidia.
How tracking would work
The Chip Security Act would require a mechanism to track chip locations through inspections, attestations, or ping-based location mechanisms.
Foster plans stricter legislation
If the bill passes, tracking would only show where chips are, not disconnect them if smuggled. Foster intends to introduce stricter legislation requiring licenses to operate advanced GPUs, with valid licenses verified before connection.
The takeaway
Nvidia privately confirmed to a US lawmaker it could implement chip-tracking measures to prevent smuggling, contradicting its industry group's public claim that such technology is infeasible.
