Nvidia representatives privately told US representative Bill Foster that the company could implement geographic checks for advanced AI chips, according to Foster. The acknowledgment matters because an industry group that includes Nvidia publicly called tracking mandates “new, untested, and potentially infeasible.”
Foster co-sponsored the Chip Security Act, which would require location verification to deter controlled GPUs from being smuggled to China. Options in the bill include facility inspections, company attestations and a stronger ping mechanism that reports a chip’s location when it comes online. Nvidia did not confirm Foster’s account or respond to the publication’s questions.
Existing Nvidia technology suggests some of the groundwork exists. Its Fleet Intelligence product lets customers monitor chip performance across data centers and can indicate the country where hardware operates. That does not prove the proposed compliance system is ready, and the company has not said whether Fleet Intelligence could be adapted for enforcement.
The current bill would help investigators locate hardware but would not remotely disconnect a smuggled GPU. Foster plans separate legislation that would require an operating license to be verified before an advanced chip connects. Both proposals still need to pass Congress, so technical feasibility has not yet become a deployed control.