Nvidia Rejects Backdoors and Kill Switches in AI Chips Amid US-China Tensions

Nvidia warns of "disaster" if it has to put kill switch and backdoor in chips

Nvidia said there are no backdoors or kill switches in its chips, denying an accusation from the Chinese government. The company also urged policymakers to reject proposals for backdoors and kill switches. "There are no back doors in NVIDIA chips. No kill switches. No spyware. That's not how trustworthy systems are built -- and never will be," Nvidia Chief Security Officer David Reber Jr. wrote in a blog post yesterday. The Cyberspace Administration of China last week said it held a meeting with Nvidia over "serious security issues" in the company's chips and claimed that US AI experts "revealed that Nvidia's computing chips have location tracking and can remotely shut down the technology." The accusation is related to the H20 chip Nvidia made for the Chinese market to comply with US export restrictions. US lawmakers are meanwhile considering a Chip Security Act that would require exported chips to be built with "location verification." The bill also calls for an assessment of mechanisms to stop unauthorized use -- a proposal that critics say could lead to a "kill switch" like the kind that Nvidia wants to prevent. The office of Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said the purpose of the legislation is to "prevent advanced American chips from falling into the hands of adversaries like Communist China by improving oversight of advanced chips." The White House's AI Action Plan similarly calls on government agencies and chipmakers to "explore leveraging new and existing location verification features on advanced AI compute to ensure that the chips are not in countries of concern." Nvidia denied China's accusation last week, telling media outlets that it "does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them." The new blog post expanded on the company's denial and argued that governments should not demand backdoors. The post seems to be at least partly a plea to the US government, given the location-tracking proposal and the long history of US officials arguing that tech products should have backdoors allowing government access to encrypted systems. "To mitigate the risk of misuse, some pundits and policymakers propose requiring hardware 'kill switches' or built-in controls that can remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and consent," Reber Jr. wrote. "Some suspect they might already exist. Nvidia GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors."

Nvidia rejects US demand for backdoors in AI chips

Nvidia's chief security officer has published a blog post insisting that its GPUs "do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors." It comes amid pressure from both sides of the Pacific, with some US lawmakers pushing Nvidia to grant the government backdoors to AI chips, while Chinese officials have alleged that they already exist. David Reber Jr.'s post seems pointedly directed at US lawmakers. In May a bipartisan group introduced the Chip Security Act, a bill that would require Nvidia and other manufacturers to include tracking technology to identify when chips are illegally transported internationally, and leaves the door open for further security measures including remote kill switches. While Nvidia is expecting to be granted permits to once again sell certain AI chips in China, its most powerful hardware is still under strict US export controls there and elsewhere.

Nvidia defiant over backdoors and kill switches in GPUs as U.S. mulls tracking requirements -- calls them 'permanent flaws' that are 'a gift to hackers'

Nvidia has firmly denied speculation about hidden control mechanisms in its GPUs, reiterating that its products contain no kill switches, no backdoors, and no spyware. The company also urged U.S. policymakers to abandon proposals for hardware-level tracking or disabling features, calling them a "gift to hackers and hostile actors." The statement came in a new blog post published in both English and Chinese, following official pressure after Chinese regulators summoned Nvidia executives last week over concerns about potential "tracking and positioning" capabilities in H20 chips that were recently approved for export under a U.S.-China trade waiver. At the same time, key legislators like Rep. Bill Foster and Senator Tom Cotton have introduced language in the proposed Chip Security Act calling for embedded location verification requirements for export­-controlled AI accelerators and even some high-end consumer GPUs -- though none of this is yet codified into law. More recently, the White House itself has confirmed it is considering chip tracking to curb AI hardware smuggling to China. Earlier this week, the DoJ announced it had arrested two Chinese nationals over allegations they had smuggled tens of millions of dollars' worth of GPUs to China. In the post, David Reber Jr., Nvidia's Chief Security Officer, emphasized that hard-coded, single-point controls are always a bad idea, warning that any hidden hardware mechanism -- kill switch or backdoor -- would undermine global trust in U.S. technology and create security vulnerabilities. Reber drew parallels to the failed Clipper Chip initiative of the 1990s, where backdoor provisions in encryption hardware became exploitable flaws, sparking industry backlash. The blog comes at an awkward business moment as Nvidia recently said its guidance (revenue forecast) would have been roughly $8 billion higher if not for the halted H20 chip sales, which are set to resume soon. While the Trump administration plans to issue a waiver to resume those exports, Nvidia stressed that forcibly integrating kill-switch-like features could end up harming U.S. national security interests, not strengthening them. Reber underscored that robust GPU security depends on defense-in-depth -- layered safeguards, independent testing, and user consent -- not on hidden firmware triggers. He likened a kill switch to "buying a car where the dealership keeps a remote for your parking brake," rendering users powerless in critical moments. Nvidia also pointed to broader industry consensus -- Apple has long resisted similar government demands, and security experts generally view hardware backdoors as untenable. The statement closed firmly: "There are no back doors in Nvidia chips. No kill switches. No spyware. That's not how trustworthy systems are built -- and never will be."

Nvidia reiterates its chips have no backdoors, urges US against location verification

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab has published a blog post reiterating that its chips did not have backdoors or kill switches and appealed to U.S. policymakers to forgo such ideas saying it would be a "gift" to hackers and hostile actors. The blog post, which was published on Tuesday in both English and Chinese, comes a week after the Chinese government summoned the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant to a meeting saying it was concerned by a U.S. proposal for advanced chips sold abroad to be equipped with tracking and positioning functions. The White House and both houses of U.S. Congress of requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export laws ban sales. The separate bills and White House recommendation have not become a formal rule, and no technical requirements have been established. "Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors. It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology," Nvidia said. It had said last week its products have no backdoors that would allow remote access or control. A backdoor refers to a hidden method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls. Nvidia emphasized that "there is no such thing as a 'good' secret backdoor - only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated." Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Nvidia says its AI chips don't have a 'kill switch' after Chinese accusation

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks to the media at a hotel in Beijing, China July 16, 2025. Nvidia on Tuesday rejected Chinese accusations that its data center GPUs for artificial intelligence include a hardware function that could remotely deactivate the chips, which is commonly called a "kill switch." "NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors," wrote Nvidia's Chief Security Officer David Reber in a blog post on Tuesday. The blog post comes after the Cyberspace Administration of China said last week that it needed Nvidia to provide documents about what it called security vulnerabilities in the H20, Nvidia's data center AI chip intended for the Chinese market. The regulator specifically mentioned "backdoor" security risks, according to the New York Times. The statement is an example of how Nvidia is navigating geopolitical conflict as its AI chips remain in high demand by countries and companies around the world. U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation that would require AI chips under export regulations to be equipped with location-tracking systems. The U.S. has placed export controls on some Nvidia chips to China because of national security reasons, saying that the country could use the chips to gain an advantage in AI or for military purposes. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has argued that it is better for the U.S. if Nvidia's chips become the global standard for AI computers, especially among Chinese developers.

No Backdoors. No Kill Switches. No Spyware.

NVIDIA GPUs are at the heart of modern computing. They're used across industries -- from healthcare and finance to scientific research, autonomous systems and AI infrastructure. NVIDIA GPUs are embedded into CT scanners and MRI machines, DNA sequencers, air-traffic radar tracking systems, city traffic-management systems, self-driving cars, supercomputers, TV broadcasting systems, casino machines and game consoles. To mitigate the risk of misuse, some pundits and policymakers propose requiring hardware "kill switches" or built-in controls that can remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and consent. Some suspect they might already exist. NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors. Hard-Coded, Single-Point Controls Are Always a Bad Idea NVIDIA has been designing processors for over 30 years. Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors. It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology. Established law wisely requires companies to fix vulnerabilities -- not create them. Until recently, that policy was universally held and beyond question. When security researchers discovered vulnerabilities such as "Spectre" and "Meltdown" for CPUs, governments and industry responded with speed and unity to eliminate the risk. That principle still holds. There is no such thing as a "good" secret backdoor -- only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated. Product security must always be done the right way: through rigorous internal testing, independent validation and full compliance with global cybersecurity standards. Robust security is built on the principle of "defense in depth": layering multiple safeguards so that no single-point vulnerability can compromise or shut down a system. For decades, that's how NVIDIA and American industry have promoted innovation while protecting users and growing the economy. This is no time to depart from that winning formula. Historical Lessons: The Clipper Chip Debacle -- a Policy and Technical Failure The cybersecurity community learned these lessons the hard way during the 1990s with the NSA's Clipper Chip initiative. Introduced in 1993, the Clipper Chip was designed to provide strong encryption while maintaining government backdoor access through a key escrow system. The Clipper Chip represented everything wrong with built-in backdoors. Security researchers discovered fundamental flaws in the system that could allow malicious parties to tamper with the software. It created centralized vulnerabilities that could be exploited by adversaries. The mere existence of government backdoors undermined user confidence in the security of systems. Kill switches and built-in backdoors create single points of failure and violate the fundamental principles of cybersecurity. Promote Smart Software Tools, Not Dangerous Hardware Traps Some point to smartphone features like "find my phone" or "remote wipe" as models for a GPU kill switch. That comparison doesn't hold water -- optional software features, controlled by the user, are not hardware backdoors. NVIDIA has always supported open, transparent software that helps customers get the most from their GPU-powered systems -- diagnostics, performance monitoring, bug reporting and timely patching -- with the user's knowledge and consent. That's responsible, secure computing. It helps our customers excel, and industry stay ahead. Hardwiring a kill switch into a chip is something entirely different: a permanent flaw beyond user control, and an open invitation for disaster. It's like buying a car where the dealership keeps a remote control for the parking brake -- just in case they decide you shouldn't be driving. That's not sound policy. It's an overreaction that would irreparably harm America's economic and national security interests. Hardware Integrity Should Be Nonpartisan and Nonnegotiable For decades, policymakers have championed industry's efforts to create secure, trustworthy hardware. Governments have many tools to protect nations, consumers and the economy. Deliberately weakening critical infrastructure should never be one of them. There are no back doors in NVIDIA chips. No kill switches. No spyware. That's not how trustworthy systems are built -- and never will be.

Nvidia denies 'backdoor' claim after China raises security risk

Chinese authorities have summoned U.S. chip giant Nvidia Corp. over alleged security vulnerabilities in its H20 processor, a move that could complicate the company's efforts to re-enter the Chinese market just as Washington and Beijing struggle to make progress on a renewed trade truce. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) called Nvidia representatives to a meeting to discuss "serious security risks" tied to its H20 AI chip, Bloomberg reported, citing a statement from the internet watchdog.

Nvidia, under pressure from U.S. and China, says its chips have no 'back doors'

Some Nvidia chips will be exported to China again after President Donald Trump partially lifted a ban on such exports last month. (Hannibal Hanschke/EPA/Shutterstock) Nvidia declared its highly sought-after AI chips don't have "back doors" or "kill switches" and that it opposes such remote control options, in an effort to insulate itself from the intensifying technological rivalry between the United States and China. "There is no such thing as a 'good' secret backdoor," Nvidia Chief Security Officer David Reber Jr. wrote on Tuesday, adding that "until recently" the idea of building in such vulnerabilities on purpose was "beyond question." Nvidia's disavowal of such spying tools reflects how the company has become a pressure point for both the United States and Beijing in a high-stakes AI race. Nvidia is now the world's most valuable public company, with its AI chips serving as the building blocks for cutting-edge systems like ChatGPT. China's cyberspace regulator summoned Nvidia last week and asked it to explain the risks of "back doors" in its chips, which the agency said shad "serious security issues." President Donald Trump's technology advisers have been discussing potential ways to better track the smuggling of restricted Nvidia chips abroad and keep a closer eye on China's AI developments on the ground. The administration's AI Action Plan unveiled last month suggested "leveraging new and existing location verification features on advanced AI compute to ensure that the chips are not in countries of concern." The plan also called for cooperation between the Commerce Department and U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor AI moves overseas. A related bill, the Chip Security Act, is under discussion in Congress. It would require U.S. AI chips for export to be equipped with location trackers and possibly other unspecified mechanisms "to achieve any national security or foreign policy objective of the United States" considered appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce. Nvidia has sought to continue straddling the U.S. and China markets, despite diplomatic tensions, arguing that it needs the scale of sales to remain No. 1 in the world. If implemented, however, the proposed U.S. measures could precipitate further decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese tech ecosystems, as they would explicitly require U.S. tech products to serve a governmental monitoring purpose overseas, which Beijing would likely find unacceptable. For its part, the United States is in the process of removing all telecommunications equipment from Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE from domestic networks, citing concerns that the Chinese gear could have back doors. "There's a lot of posturing going on by the U.S. government, the Chinese government, as well as companies," said an industry expert, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss considerations within Congress and the Trump administration. "There is no current requirement yet to put the location devices in -- or from the Chinese perspective, to officially prohibit them. So there are a lot of signals going on." Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Michigan), the sponsor of the Chip Security Act, said in a statement Wednesday that the legislation would not require "spyware" or "kill switches" in products, calling any statements to the contrary "disingenuous." "The Chip Security Act is the best approach to disrupt nefarious actors from gaining access to critical technologies," he said. "All information regarding the chips' locations stays with industry, while only illicit diversion would be brought to the attention of the federal government." In his blog post, Reber, the Nvidia security chief, evoked the National Security Agency's "Clipper Chip" in the 1990s, calling it an example of the dangers of building U.S. governmental back doors into chips. Introduced under the Clinton administration, the chip was beset by security vulnerabilities and criticism that it allowed for potentially illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens. "It created centralized vulnerabilities that could be exploited by adversaries," Reber wrote. "The mere existence of government back doors undermined user confidence in the security of systems." While Nvidia supports its customers' ability to monitor their chips, Reber wrote, the idea of hardwiring in a function controlled by someone other than the customer was "an open invitation for disaster." Nvidia has figured prominently in U.S.-China relations particularly since mid-July, when the Trump administration announced plans to reverse export restrictions on the company's H20 AI chip to China, in an apparent olive branch ahead of trade talks in Stockholm. Administration officials said that keeping Nvidia in the China market would prevent its Chinese rivals from growing so quickly, but the decision was controversial, with national-security experts from both parties warning it could aid China's AI developments. The U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday it had charged two Chinese nationals with smuggling restricted Nvidia AI chips to China, alleging that they routed the chips through companies registered in Singapore and Malaysia. Beijing, for its part, has expressed wariness at Trump's offer of Nvidia chips. The Cyberspace Administration of China demanded last week that the company submit "relevant supporting materials" to prove that its chips did not have back doors. Other major U.S. and Chinese tech companies have faced similar demands over the years to try to prove they were not assisting government spying operations, including U.S. networking giant Cisco Systems and China's Huawei Technologies. Earlier this year, Apple received a secret demand from the United Kingdom's government to create a back door for U.K. authorities to access Apple users' cloud content, as reported by The Washington Post. Apple decided to disable its most secure data storage offering for new customers in Britain, rather than comply with the order.

Nvidia says its chips don't have backdoors, wants to keep it that way

In response to tensions and pointed questions from leaders in the US and China, Nvidia says it's essential to keep backdoors out of its extremely lucrative GPUs. Nvidia is sitting on an absolutely mind-boggling amount of money... like, enough to make Solomon and Midas and Croesus go, "Wow, that's a lot of money." It's become one of, if not the, richest companies on the planet by riding both the crypto and AI chip booms. But are all those pricey chips secure? Nvidia says they are -- and should stay that way, much to the chagrin of some lawmakers. "To mitigate the risk of misuse, some pundits and policymakers propose requiring hardware 'kill switches' or built-in controls that can remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and consent," reads a blog post from Tuesday. "Some suspect they might already exist. Nvidia GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors." The blog post is an obvious response to the tensions between the United States and China, which are currently in something of an arms race for "AI" technology, with Nvidia's chips a key point of contention. Earlier this year, a US lawmaker proposed putting location trackers in Nvidia chips to keep them from being smuggled into mainland China, something that happens on a regular basis to evade export restrictions. Chinese cybersecurity authorities summoned Nvidia employees last week to rather pointedly ask if newly available industrial H20 AI chips contained spyware or backdoors. The highly-sought-after chips were cleared for export by the Trump administration in April, immediately after an apparent bit of personal lobbying from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at a $1-million-a-head dinner at Trump's personal residence in Florida. "There is no such thing as a 'good' secret backdoor -- only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated," wrote Nvidia's chief security officer in the blog post. "Kill switches and built-in backdoors create single points of failure and violate the fundamental principles of cybersecurity." In light of the bill proposed earlier this year, it seems possible that the US could demand exactly that as a condition of clearing hassle-free and lucrative chip exports to China. I wonder if more expensive dinners are in Jensen Huang's future. The blog post gives a brief history of chip-level security failures, name-dropping Spectre and Meltdown. It's important to note that what Nvidia is denying here is deliberate, intentional means of disabling or spying upon chips -- not security vulnerabilities or bugs that make them susceptible to attack, which do crop up from time to time.

Nvidia's Jensen Huang hauled before China's cyber cops to explain 'backdoor safety risks' in H20 chips

China's cyberspace regulators on Thursday summoned Nvidia over security concerns that its H20 chips can be tracked and turned off remotely, the Cyberspace Administration of China said on its website. In the meeting, Chinese regulators demanded that the U.S. chip company provide explanations on "backdoor safety risks" of its H20 chips to be sold in China and submit relevant materials, the office said. "Cybersecurity is critically important to us. NVIDIA does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them," an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement to AP. It came just about two weeks after the Trump administration lifted the block on the computing chips and allowed Nvidia to resume sales of H20 chips to the Chinese market. Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, made the announcement with fanfare when he was in Beijing earlier this month. The latest episode appears to be another turbulence in the tech rivalry between the United States and China, which have left businesses in both countries tussling with governments over market access and national security concerns. Any safety concern by Beijing could jeopardize the sale of H20 chips in China. Citing unnamed U.S. AI experts, the Chinese regulators said Nvidia has developed mature technology to track, locate and remotely disable its computing chips. The regulators summoned Nvidia to "safeguard the cybersecurity and data security of Chinese users," in accordance with Chinese laws, the statement said. The statement also referred to a call by U.S. lawmakers to require tracking and locating capabilities on U.S. advanced chips sold overseas. In May, Rep. Bill Huizenga, R.-Michigan, and Rep. Bill Foster, D.-Illinois, introduced the Chip Security Act that would require high-end chips to be equipped with "security mechanisms" to detect "smuggling or exploitation." The bill has not moved through Congress since its introduction. Foster, a trained physicist, then said, "I know that we have the technical tools to prevent powerful AI technology from getting into the wrong hands." The U.S. still bans the sale to China of the most advanced chips, which are necessary for developing artificial intelligence. Both countries aim to lead in the artificial intelligence race. The Trump administration in April blocked the sales of H20 chips, which Nvidia developed to specifically comply with U.S. restrictions for exports of AI chips to China. After the ban was lifted, Nvidia expected to sell hundreds of thousands more H20 chips in the Chinese market. But the easing of the ban has raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. On Monday, a group of top Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to express their "grave concerns". While chips like the H20 have differing capabilities than the most advanced chips such as Nvidia's H100, "they give (China) capabilities that its domestically-developed chipsets cannot," the senators wrote. Shortly after the ban was lifted, Rep. John Moolenaar, R.-Michigan, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, objected. "The Commerce Department made the right call in banning the H20. Now it must hold the line," Moolenaar wrote in a letter to Lutnick. "We can't let the CCP use American chips to train AI models that will power its military, censor its people, and undercut American innovation," Moolenaar wrote, referring to the Chinese Communist Party by its acronym.

Nvidia says no 'backdoors' in chips as China questions security

Nvidia chips do not contain "backdoors" allowing remote access, the US tech giant has said, after Beijing summoned company representatives to discuss "serious security issues." The California-based company is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, and this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value. But it has become entangled in trade tensions between China and the United States, and Washington effectively restricts which chips Nvidia can export to China on national security grounds. "Cybersecurity is critically important to us. Nvidia does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them," Nvidia said in a statement Thursday. A key issue has been Chinese access to the "H20" -- a less powerful version of Nvidia's AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China. Nvidia said this month it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports. But the tech giant still faces obstacles -- US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities. Beijing's top internet regulator said Thursday it had summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss recently discovered "serious security issues" involving the H20. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it had asked Nvidia to "explain the security risks of vulnerabilities and backdoors in its H20 chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials". China is aiming to reduce reliance on foreign tech by promoting Huawei's domestically developed 910C chip as an alternative to the H20, said Jost Wubbeke of the Sinolytics consultancy. "From that perspective, the US decision to allow renewed exports of the H20 to China could be seen as counterproductive, as it might tempt Chinese hyperscalers to revert to the H20, potentially undermining momentum behind the 910C and other domestic alternatives," he said. Other hurdles to Nvidia's operations in China are the sputtering economy, beset by a years-long property sector crisis, and heightened trade headwinds under US President Donald Trump. CEO Jensen Huang said during a visit to Beijing this month that the company remained committed to serving local customers, adding that he had been assured during talks with top Chinese officials that the country was "open and stable".

Nvidia says no 'backdoors' in chips as China questions security

Beijing (AFP) - Nvidia chips do not contain "backdoors" allowing remote access, the US tech giant has said, after Beijing summoned company representatives to discuss "serious security issues". The California-based company is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, and this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value. But it has become entangled in trade tensions between China and the United States, and Washington effectively restricts which chips Nvidia can export to China on national security grounds. "Cybersecurity is critically important to us. Nvidia does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them," Nvidia said in a statement Thursday. A key issue has been Chinese access to the "H20" -- a less powerful version of Nvidia's AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China. Nvidia said this month it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports. But the tech giant still faces obstacles -- US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities. Beijing's top internet regulator said Thursday it had summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss recently discovered "serious security issues" involving the H20. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it had asked Nvidia to "explain the security risks of vulnerabilities and backdoors in its H20 chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials". China is aiming to reduce reliance on foreign tech by promoting Huawei's domestically developed 910C chip as an alternative to the H20, said Jost Wubbeke of the Sinolytics consultancy. "From that perspective, the US decision to allow renewed exports of the H20 to China could be seen as counterproductive, as it might tempt Chinese hyperscalers to revert to the H20, potentially undermining momentum behind the 910C and other domestic alternatives," he said. Other hurdles to Nvidia's operations in China are the sputtering economy, beset by a years-long property sector crisis, and heightened trade headwinds under US President Donald Trump. CEO Jensen Huang said during a visit to Beijing this month that the company remained committed to serving local customers, adding that he had been assured during talks with top Chinese officials that the country was "open and stable".

'There is no such thing as a good secret backdoor,' says Nvidia, reiterating that there are no kill switches, spyware, or secret ways to access its GPUs

Some US politicians may still believe otherwise, but the AI behemoth is adamant about its security. After US export restrictions were lifted on Nvidia's H20 AI processors, China's Cyberspace Administration summoned the company to explain whether or not the chips had any backdoor access. Nvidia denied that this was true, and in a new blog, it not only reiterated this statement but explained why the whole concept of a secret backdoor is nonsense in the first place. This confirmation was provided by Nvidia's chief security officer, David Reber Jr. in a blog post titled "No Backdoors. No Kill Switches. No Spyware." He really doesn't mince his words: "Nvidia GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors." As to why this has all cropped up in the first place, it's in part due to previous demands from some US politicians that Nvidia should add tracking devices to their chips. "To mitigate the risk of misuse, some pundits and policymakers propose requiring hardware 'kill switches' or built-in controls that can remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and consent," writes Reber Jr. "Some suspect they might already exist." The rest is obviously down to concerns that the US administration's U-turn on selling chips to China might involve some nefarious machinations behind the scenes to spy on the country's developments in AI. Nvidia explains why this would just be a bad idea, full stop. "There is no such thing as a 'good' secret backdoor -- only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated. "It's like buying a car where the dealership keeps a remote control for the parking brake -- just in case they decide you shouldn't be driving. That's not sound policy. It's an overreaction that would irreparably harm America's economic and national security interests." Nvidia points out that adding any kind of secret access to its GPUs, either to disable them remotely or spy on their usage, would make them open to being used in the opposite direction. "Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors," says Nvidia. The unexpected release of DeepSeek R1 earlier this year was a stark reminder that America isn't the only country with the means and drive to produce cutting-edge AI. China-based DeepSeek used Nvidia's A100 and H800 GPUs to train its models, and this may have fueled the demands for backdoors to be added to the chips. Some might argue that Nvidia shouldn't be selling its GPUs to China in the first place because of fears over the US losing ground in the AI market. The counter to this is that all this would do is force China to become increasingly self-reliant on its own GPU design and manufacturing, to the point where it no longer has to send billions of dollars into Nvidia's and the US Treasury's coffers. Hence, why the export restriction has been lifted: Nvidia gets to make more money, which in turn helps the US economy. It also helps to temper China's efforts to create its own AI mega-chips. And Nvidia is crystal clear about how secure all of this is: "There are no back doors in [our] chips. No kill switches. No spyware. That's not how trustworthy systems are built -- and never will be."

Nvidia claims H20 chips do 'not have backdoors' after reportedly being summoned by 'Beijing authorities' for a quick word

Technologically speaking, America has been quite afraid of Chinese development for, well, ever, but there's been a significant resurgence of this thought since the boom of AI in the last few years. After much deliberation and argumentation, Nvidia was finally cleared from US scrutiny to import its H20 chips into China recently, and this came with concerns from China. As reported by Bloomberg, Nvidia was summoned by "Beijing authorities" over suspected security risks with its H20 chips. Nvidia is said to have been asked to explain potential risks by the Cyberspace Administration of China, and whether or not Nvidia's chip had a backdoor, which could be accessed and logged remotely without the consent of owners. In response, Nvidia states, "Nvidia does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them." The H20 is a chip designed to specifically comply with export restrictions placed on technology going to China. Effectively, the US wants to win the AI race and sees restricting China's access to the best AI GPUs as part of this plan. In April, it was announced that Nvidia would need a specific license to ship the H20 chips, and even this was halted in a ban in May. By the middle of July, the US government had once again allowed the sale of the H20 chips. Effectively a modified version of the H100 GPU, it's the strongest AI chip that Chinese businesses can legally get their hands on going forward. Even with the US wanting to come out on top in regards to the development of AI, restricting Nvidia sales would negatively impact the company, its relationship with the US government, and that lost revenue translates to less taxes. Talking to Bloomberg, Forrester principal analyst Charlie Dai says, "The CAC's scrutiny over H20 security risks could further erode Nvidia's Chinese market share amid rising domestic competition, and immediate H20 sales resumption may face delays due to regulatory uncertainty." Though this investigation could be read as paranoia, it's not entirely without cause. In May, a US politician argued to add trackers to all Nvidia GPUs so they can be bricked if they end up in China. Just days after this, a senator announced a bill pushing for the same outcome. A statement from the CAC says, "US lawmakers have previously called for advanced chips exported from the US to be equipped with location-tracking features." It goes on, "the location-tracking and remote shutdown capabilities on Nvidia computing chips are ready, according to US AI experts." Just last month, Jensen Huang said, "Depriving someone of technology is not a goal, it's a tactic. And that tactic was not in service of the goal". He continues, "Our mission, properly expressed... in order for America to have AI leadership...is to make sure the American tech stack is available to markets all over the world, so that amazing developers, including the ones in China, are able to build on [the] American tech stack." The backdoor and tracking concerns from both sides don't seem to be done here, but Nvidia has gone some way to ease tensions. Huang praised Chinese domestic plans for AI recently, and it seems likely further commitments will be made there, too.

NVIDIA on its AI GPUs: 'there are no back doors in NVIDIA chips. No kill switches. No spyware'

TL;DR: NVIDIA firmly opposes proposed regulations mandating on-chip kill switches or backdoors in AI GPUs, warning such hardware controls would create security risks, undermine trust, and harm U.S. economic and national security. The company emphasizes secure, user-controlled software features are preferable to permanent, vulnerable hardware flaws. A couple of months ago there was a proposal from a US lawmaker that would mandate on-chip location verification and boot restrictions for AI chips, aiming to stop NVIDIA AI GPUs from being smuggled into China, and now NVIDIA has directly responded to this. NVIDIA said in a recent blog post that "NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors" after some pundits and policymakers proposed requiring hardware "kill switches" or built-in controls that could remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and content, with NVIDIA noting "some suspect they might already exist". The company writes: "NVIDIA has been designing processors for over 30 years. Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors. It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology. Established law wisely requires companies to fix vulnerabilities - not create them". NVIDIA underlines it at the end of its article, writing: "For decades, policymakers have championed industry's efforts to create secure, trustworthy hardware. Governments have many tools to protect nations, consumers and the economy. Deliberately weakening critical infrastructure should never be one of them. There are no back doors in NVIDIA chips. No kill switches. No spyware. That's not how trustworthy systems are built - and never will be". The company also notes that some people point out smartphone features like "find my phone" and "remote wipe" as models that could be used for a proposed GPU kill switch, but as NVIDIA says, that comparison doesn't hold water. There are optional software features, controlled by the user, and they're not hardware-level backdoors. Hardwiring a kill switch into a chip is "something entirely different" says NVIDIA, a permanent flaw beyond user control, which is an open invitation for disaster, says the company. NVIDIA adds: "It's like buying a car where the dealership keeps a remote control for the parking brake - just in case they decide you shouldn't be driving. That's not sound policy. It's an overreaction that would irreparably harm America's economic and national security interests".

Nvidia Reiterates Its Chips Have No Backdoors, Urges US Against Location Verification

BEIJING (Reuters) -Nvidia has published a blog post reiterating that its chips did not have backdoors or kill switches and appealed to U.S. policymakers to forgo such ideas saying it would be a "gift" to hackers and hostile actors. The blog post, which was published on Tuesday in both English and Chinese, comes a week after the Chinese government summoned the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant to a meeting saying it was concerned by a U.S. proposal for advanced chips sold abroad to be equipped with tracking and positioning functions. The White House and both houses of U.S. Congress have proposed the idea of requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export laws ban sales. The separate bills and White House recommendation have not become a formal rule, and no technical requirements have been established. "Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors. It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology," Nvidia said. It had said last week its products have no backdoors that would allow remote access or control. A backdoor refers to a hidden method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls. Nvidia emphasized that "there is no such thing as a 'good' secret backdoor - only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated." (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Nvidia says no 'backdoors' in chips as China questions security

Nvidia, the US tech giant, says its chips are secure. This comes after Beijing questioned the security of Nvidia's H20 chips. China is worried about potential backdoors. Nvidia assures that there are no remote access vulnerabilities. China aims to reduce reliance on foreign tech. Huawei's 910C chip is promoted as an alternative. Nvidia remains committed to serving Chinese customers. Nvidia chips do not contain "backdoors" allowing remote access, the US tech giant has said, after Beijing summoned company representatives to discuss "serious security issues". The California-based company is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, and this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value. But it has become entangled in trade tensions between China and the United States, and Washington effectively restricts which chips Nvidia can export to China on national security grounds. "Cybersecurity is critically important to us. Nvidia does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them," Nvidia said in a statement Thursday. A key issue has been Chinese access to the "H20" -- a less powerful version of Nvidia's AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China. Nvidia said this month it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports. But the tech giant still faces obstacles -- US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities. Beijing's top internet regulator said Thursday it had summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss recently discovered "serious security issues" involving the H20. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it had asked Nvidia to "explain the security risks of vulnerabilities and backdoors in its H20 chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials". China is aiming to reduce reliance on foreign tech by promoting Huawei's domestically developed 910C chip as an alternative to the H20, said Jost Wubbeke of the Sinolytics consultancy. "From that perspective, the US decision to allow renewed exports of the H20 to China could be seen as counterproductive, as it might tempt Chinese hyperscalers to revert to the H20, potentially undermining momentum behind the 910C and other domestic alternatives," he said. Other hurdles to Nvidia's operations in China are the sputtering economy, beset by a years-long property sector crisis, and heightened trade headwinds under US President Donald Trump. CEO Jensen Huang said during a visit to Beijing this month that the company remained committed to serving local customers, adding that he had been assured during talks with top Chinese officials that the country was "open and stable".

Nvidia reiterates its chips have no backdoors, urges US against location verification - The Economic Times

Nvidia has published a blog post reiterating that its chips did not have backdoors or kill switches and appealed to US policymakers to forgo such ideas saying it would be a "gift" to hackers and hostile actors. The blog post, which was published on Tuesday in both English and Chinese, comes a week after the Chinese government summoned the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant to a meeting saying it was concerned by a US proposal for advanced chips sold abroad to be equipped with tracking and positioning functions. The White House and both houses of US Congress have proposed the idea of requiring US chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where US export laws ban sales. The separate bills and White House recommendation have not become a formal rule, and no technical requirements have been established. "Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors. It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in US technology," Nvidia said. It had said last week its products have no backdoors that would allow remote access or control. A backdoor refers to a hidden method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls. Nvidia emphasised that "there is no such thing as a 'good' secret backdoor - only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated."

China state media says Nvidia must provide 'security proofs' to regain trust - The Economic Times

The commentary appeared a day after Beijing raised concerns over potential security risks in Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence chip, casting uncertainty over the company's sales prospects in China weeks after a US export ban was reversed.Nvidia must produce "convincing security proofs" to eliminate Chinese users' worries over security risks in its chips and regain market trust, a commentary published by China's state-run media People's Daily said on Friday. Foreign companies must comply with Chinese laws and take security to be a basic prerequisite, said the commentary - titled "Nvidia, how can I trust you?" - which was published on the paper's social media account. In a statement sent to Reuters, an Nvidia spokesperson reiterated that "cybersecurity is critically important to us". "NVIDIA does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them," the spokesperson said. The commentary appeared a day after Beijing raised concerns over potential security risks in Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence chip, casting uncertainty over the company's sales prospects in China weeks after a US export ban was reversed. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's internet regulator, said it was concerned by a US proposal for advanced chips sold abroad to be equipped with tracking and positioning functions. The regulator said it had summoned Nvidia to a meeting to explain whether its H20 AI chip had any backdoor security risks, as it was worried that Chinese user data and privacy rights could be affected. A backdoor risk refers to a hidden method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls.

NVIDIA Rejects the US Administration's Plans to Integrate 'Kill Switches' Into AI Chips For Export to China; Says Its Deliberately Weakens Critical Infrastructure & Will Never Happen

NVIDIA has given its verdict on the recent talks of integrating kill switches and backdoors into AI chips, saying that Team Green has not been interested in this approach at all. Chinese regulators recently approached Team Green to give a verdict on whether their AI chips have any potential backdoors, and the firm seems to have published a dedicated blog post to address this matter more effectively. Calling out 'pundits and policymakers', NVIDIA says that it will never integrate kill switches into equipment that is the heart of modern-day computing, and says that it will be a gift to hackers and hostile actors, which will undermine the use of US technology in foreign markets. NVIDIA has been designing processors for over thirty years. Embedding backdoors and kill-switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors. It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology. Established law wisely requires companies to fix vulnerabilities -- not create them. Diving into the report, NVIDIA backed its stance while discussing the consequences of the 'Clipper Chip Debacle', which was introduced by the U.S. government's attempt to implement a backdoor into encrypted communications for enforcement. Team Green says that this initiative caused exploiters to tamper with the software, creating vulnerabilities that threatened the US government. NVIDIA explains that implementing such measures with AI chips will have drastic impacts. It is indeed interesting to see NVIDIA come up with such a report, only after China opened its scrutiny into the firm's AI chips, which had put the supply of H20 to domestic markets in jeopardy. While the US government hasn't taken such an approach yet, a bill has already been introduced into the Senate, and discussions are being made. However, on NVIDIA's side, "There are no back doors in NVIDIA chips. No kill switches. No spyware. That's not how trustworthy systems are built -- and never will be.".

China state media says Nvidia must provide 'security proofs' to regain trust

BEIJING (Reuters) -Nvidia must produce "convincing security proofs" to eliminate Chinese users' worries over security risks in its chips and regain market trust, a commentary published by China's state-run media People's Daily said on Friday. Foreign companies must comply with Chinese laws and take security to be a basic prerequisite, said the commentary - titled "Nvidia, how can I trust you?" - which was published on the paper's social media account. In a statement sent to Reuters, an Nvidia spokesperson reiterated that "Cybersecurity is critically important to us". "NVIDIA does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them," the spokesperson said. The commentary appeared a day after Beijing raised concerns over potential security risks in Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence chip, casting uncertainty over the company's sales prospects in China weeks after a U.S. export ban was reversed. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's internet regulator, said it was concerned by a U.S. proposal for advanced chips sold abroad to be equipped with tracking and positioning functions. The regulator said it had summoned Nvidia to a meeting to explain whether its H20 AI chip had any backdoor security risks, as it was worried that Chinese user data and privacy rights could be affected. A backdoor risk refers to a hidden method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls. (Reporting by Beijing NewsroomEditing by Ros Russell)

Nvidia Reiterates That Its Chips Don't Have Back Doors

Nvidia reiterated that its chips don't--and shouldn't--have back doors or kill switches, days after Beijing summoned the U.S. artificial-intelligence chip giant over national-security concerns. "There are no back doors in NVIDIA chips. No kill switches. No spyware," Nvidia said in a blog post late Tuesday. "That's not how trustworthy systems are built--and never will be." A Chinese version of the post was published on WeChat. China's cybersecurity regulator last week summoned Nvidia to explain the "backdoor security risks" associated with its H20 chips and asked it to submit relevant documents. The meeting came after some U.S. policymakers in May called for advanced chips to be equipped with location-verification technology to detect "smuggling or exploitation." On Tuesday, Nvidia said there is "no such thing as a 'good' secret backdoor--only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated." It warned against embedding any back doors or kill switches into chips, saying such moves enable hackers and hostile actors and would undermine trust in U.S. technology. Nvidia in July received a green light to resume selling its H20 AI chip in China, following a monthslong pause amid escalating U.S.-China trade tensions earlier this year. The chip, specially designed for Chinese customers who comply with U.S. export rules, has been a top seller since 2024.