Chinese authorities claim that NVIDIA GPUs have backdoors

China's cybersecurity regulator has called NVIDIA to explain security concerns about the company's AI chips. The regulator says NVIDIA's H20 chips for the Chinese market contain 'backdoors' that could allow location tracking and remote shutdown, posing 'serious security issues.'

China questions Nvidia over H20 chip security risks | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/h20-nvidia-china-chips-unitedstates-9cd8c6b29914c377d4961a78f1fa00b2

China claims Nvidia built backdoor into H20 chip designed for Chinese market - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/07/china-claims-nvidia-built-backdoor-into-h20-chip-designed-for-chinese-market/

China's Cybersecurity Regulatory Authority (CAC) claims that 'American AI experts have revealed that NVIDIA's computing chips have location tracking capabilities and can be remotely shut down.' Based on this, the CAC has requested NVIDIA to explain the issue and provide relevant documents 'to protect the cybersecurity and data security of Chinese users.'

'NVIDIA has not implemented any backdoors in its chips that could allow someone to remotely access or control them,' the company said in a statement.

In mid-July 2025, the Trump administration in the United States lifted the ban on sales of H20 chips, allowing NVIDIA to resume sales to the Chinese market.

NVIDIA and AMD AI chips to be sold to China to resume, Trump administration reverses stance and eases regulations on AI semiconductors - GIGAZINE

Additionally, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang visited Beijing to emphasize its commitment to the Chinese market and unveil new GPUs based on the Blackwell series that comply with existing US export restrictions.

NVIDIA to release China version of RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell in September 2025, improved to comply with President Trump's strict export controls - GIGAZINE

However, concerns have been raised within the United States about NVIDIA's export of high-performance chips. The decision to resume sales of the H20 has been strongly criticized by security experts and former officials, who say it will accelerate China's AI development and threaten U.S. national security. In May, bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Chip Security Act, which would require high-performance chips to incorporate security features to detect smuggling and misuse. Furthermore, a group of Democratic senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce expressing 'grave concerns' that chips like the H20 offer 'capabilities not available on China's domestically developed chipsets.'

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has informally instructed major domestic technology companies, including Huawei, Biren, and Cambricon, to increase their purchases of domestically produced AI chips to reduce their reliance on Nvidia and support the country's semiconductor ecosystem.

Paul Triolo, an expert on Chinese technology, said he was 'skeptical' of the claim that Nvidia intentionally installed a backdoor, but pointed out that 'there are powerful factions in both the US and China that are opposed to the resumption of sales of the H20,' citing security concerns in the US and concerns about delaying the transition to a domestically produced ecosystem in China.