Nvidia has developed location verification software that can estimate which country its AI chips are running in, according to a Reuters report based on people familiar with the project and an emailed Nvidia statement.
The unreleased feature has been demonstrated privately to customers and would be offered as an optional software service layered on top of the confidential computing capabilities already built into Nvidia GPUs.
Reuters reports that the tool would run as a customer-installed agent, using GPU telemetry and the time it takes to communicate with Nvidia-operated servers to track fleet performance and approximate location, similar to other internet-based geolocation services. In its statement to Reuters, Nvidia said it is “in the process of implementing a new software service that empowers data center operators to monitor the health and inventory of their entire AI GPU fleet,” adding that the agent will use telemetry to monitor “health, integrity and inventory.”
The company plans to enable the location feature first on its latest Blackwell chips, which add stronger attestation and security controls compared with the Hopper and Ampere generations, and is exploring options for older hardware, Reuters said.
The project comes as the U.S. Justice Department prosecutes China-linked smuggling schemes that allegedly tried to move at least tens of millions of dollars’ worth of H100 and H200 GPUs into restricted markets, and as Washington pressures chipmakers to show their export-controlled hardware stays in approved countries.
Those U.S. demands have already prompted pushback from Beijing. China’s Cyberspace Administration summoned Nvidia in July over alleged “backdoor safety risks” in its H20 chips, including potential tracking and remote shutdown functions. Nvidia told that it does not have ‘backdoors’ in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them.”
One possible future in which location checks become part of the GPU software stack, giving operators another way to document where high-end chips are deployed as governments weigh how to enforce Trump’s recent decision to permit H200 exports to “approved customers” in China with a 25% levy on those sales.