NVIDIA Denies Claims of Secret Tracking Devices in AI Chip Shipments Amid New Report

Alright, bear with me here because this whole NVIDIA situation is a tangled web of geopolitical fun, isn’t it? So, let’s dive into this mess.

NVIDIA’s basically the kingpin of AI accelerators—like, seriously, they own about 90% of the market. But right now, they’re in this weird dance with China and the US over GPU exports. It’s all about national security and, honestly, it’s giving me a headache just thinking about it.

At the heart of this chaos is NVIDIA’s H20 AI GPU. Picture this: Chinese AI companies are scrambling to get their hands on these chips, trying to keep up with the AI magic happening over in the US. But here’s the twist—just because there are tons of orders from China doesn’t mean everyone’s thrilled about it.

Beijing isn’t exactly rolling out the red carpet. Despite NVIDIA’s “we’re-not-up-to-anything-shady” stance, they’re caught in this whole chip-tracker drama. Some report—was it Reuters? Yeah, I think so—anyway, it spills the beans on trackers found in AI shipments. Not that China’s chips are tagged, but you know, “high-risk” diversions to China might be happening. Or not. Who even knows?

So these sneaky trackers aren’t inside the chips themselves. They’re tucked away in the server packaging—very spy-movie-esque if you ask me. Meanwhile, companies like Dell are all “What trackers? Not our problem.” And NVIDIA’s shouting “We don’t do trackers!” with a big exclamation point.

Trackers are old news in the world of law enforcement, apparently. But talk about bad timing for NVIDIA, right? Just as they’re gearing up to send more H20s to China, this bombshell drops. Perfect.

Now, what’s the real deal with these GPUs and China? Well, these H20s were NVIDIA’s big compromise since the US wouldn’t let them ship the cooler stuff because—surprise!—national security. President Trump himself called them “obsolete.” Ouch.

And there was this ban. A billion-dollar ban, I guess you could say. It slapped NVIDIA’s exports to China on pause for a good few months. But then, magic happened. Jensen Huang from NVIDIA chatted up Trump, and July rolls around with a fresh deal. Almost forgot—I should mention the 300,000 H20s NVIDIA rushed to make. They already got a mountain of ‘em, but hey, demand!

Beijing, naturally, starts blinking red ‘SECURITY ALERT!’ all over. So NVIDIA’s guy, David Reber Jr., writes a blog post—”No Backdoors. No Spyware.” Sounds like a pep talk mixed with a plea for trust.

Then, fun fact: Chinese AI companies feel some governmental heat to reconsider using these GPUs. I can almost picture the awkward boardroom meetings happening over there. Meanwhile, out of left field, there’s this 15% revenue cut deal with the US—NVIDIA and AMD coughing up part of their China sales.

You gotta wonder, is this just a clever tax trick while folks look the other way on security risks? Or is it something legit? Honestly, I’m just a writer tangled in this narrative, passing through.

Who knows what’s next? NVIDIA’s itching to hit “GO!” on those shipments but whether the rules on exports flip tomorrow or next week—gotta be some popcorn-worthy stuff about to unfold. What do you think?