Nvidia is reportedly testing tracking software as rumors of chip smuggling spread

Nvidia is allegedly testing software that can track the location of its AI chips as reports mount of its chips being smuggled into China.

Nvidia has built location verification technology that will allow it to track the country where the chip is located, Reuters Originally reportedciting anonymous sources. This software tracks computing performance but communication delays between servers also provide a sense of the chip’s location.

This software will be optional for customer use and will be made available to Blackwell chipsets first, Reuters said.

Multiple reports have emerged in the past few days claiming that Chinese DeepSeek AI models were as well They were trained on smuggled Nvidia Blackwell chips. Nvidia responded to these reports by saying that it had not seen evidence of this type of smuggling.

“We have not seen any evidence or received tips about ‘fake data centers’ being set up to deceive us and our OEM partners, then dismantled, smuggled, and rebuilt elsewhere. While this smuggling seems far-fetched, we follow up on any advice we receive,” an Nvidia spokesperson told TechCrunch.

This news comes just days after Nvidia got the green light from the US government to start selling its products H200 AI chipset for authorized customers In China on Monday. This announcement only relates to the older H200 chips and not the company’s Blackwell chips.