The Cyberspace Administration of China accused Nvidia’s H20 GPU of being capable of location tracking and remote shutdown, citing unnamed US experts who apparently found these alleged back doors lurking in the silicon. No proof has surfaced, nor did the CAC clarify which experts had their fingers in the pie or whether any tests on Chinese soil had uncovered the same alleged tricks.
Nvidia denied the whole thing. “Cybersecurity is critically important to us,” the company said.
“Nvidia does not have ‘backdoors’ in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them.”
This latest bit of regulatory theatre comes just after Washington lifted its ban on H20 exports to China, allowing Nvidia to restart shipments and reheat relations. The company’s supreme leader Jensen Huang even flew to Beijing to suck up to officials and clients, unveiling a Blackwell-based GPU tailored to pass US restrictions.
Now it seems the welcome mat has been yanked. Beijing’s cyber watchdog has demanded Nvidia cough up documentation and explain the alleged security mess in the H20, a chip built to straddle the fine line between US rules and China’s AI hunger.
China tech expert and DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group partner Paul Triolo wasn’t buying it. He said he was “sceptical” about claims of deliberate back doors, citing the CAC’s vague language and lack of evidence.
The US Congress has been busy dreaming up new laws that would require chipmakers to embed location tracking into export-restricted hardware. It seems Nvidia is being accused of doing something it may soon be legally forced to do.
Meanwhile, Beijing has been encouraging its home-grown players to buy local instead of splashing out on Nvidia silicon. Huawei, Biren, and Cambricon are all raking in the benefits of this localisation push.
Nvidia says it will take nine months from fab restart to shipping the H20s, but Chinese customers are jittery. They’re rightly worried the US might change its mind again and slap another ban on deliveries.
Triolo said: “There are strong factions on both sides of the Pacific that don’t like the idea of renewing H20 sales.”
In the US, it's about national security. In China, it’s about cutting the cord and building a domestic chip empire. Either way, Nvidia is looking at a market that may not be worth the geopolitical grief.
