Nvidia Denies Backdoor Presence in Its Chips

Nvidia Corporation has asserted that its chips contain no backdoors that could grant unauthorized access to devices. This was reported by CNBC.

In July, the company announced its intention to resume sales of H20 AI processors in China after obtaining the necessary approval from the U.S. government.

Soon after, Chinese regulators summoned representatives of the chipmaker for questioning to understand potential risks associated with the microchips.

Nvidia met with Beijing officials on July 31 to discuss concerns regarding national security.

“Cybersecurity is of utmost importance to us. Nvidia chips do not have ‘backdoors’ that would allow anyone to remotely access or control them,” stated a company representative on August 1.

China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) has demanded that Nvidia provide explanations and relevant documentation concerning security threats, including potential vulnerabilities and backdoors in the H20 chips supplied to the country.

The regulator reminded that concerns had previously been raised about significant vulnerabilities in the American company’s AI processors. It was also noted that U.S. lawmakers have called for mandatory tracking for the export of advanced semiconductors.

The CAC added that American AI experts have already claimed that Nvidia’s computing chips contain advanced “tracking and positioning” technologies, as well as “remote shutdown” capabilities.

In May, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton and a bipartisan group of eight members of Congress introduced the U.S. Chip Security Act, which would require semiconductor companies like Nvidia to implement security mechanisms and geolocation verification features in their advanced AI processors.

Democrat Bill Foster, one of the co-authors of the bill in the House of Representatives, along with independent technical experts, told Reuters that tracking technologies for microchips already exist and are embedded in Nvidia products.

Earlier, companies from China planned to purchase more than 115,000 high-tech Nvidia chips to power new facilities and further train AI models.