TLDR : Democratic representative Bill Foster has proposed a bill to enhance tracking of AI chips, like those from Nvidia, to prevent their smuggling to China. This bill would require manufacturers to integrate geolocation and secure activation functions into their chips, enabling verification of compliance with US export authorizations and remote disabling.
Democratic representative Bill Foster recently proposed a bill aimed at preventing the smuggling of advanced AI chips, like those from Nvidia, to China by strengthening post-sale tracking mechanisms. According to Reuters, the proposal would require manufacturers to integrate geolocation and secure activation functions into their chips, allowing verification of their use in compliance with US export authorizations and remote disabling.
Under the Biden and Trump administrations, the United States tightened export restrictions on advanced technologies, particularly in semiconductors and AI, to curb China's technological ambitions. Despite these measures, Beijing reportedly circumvented some of these controls, notably through indirect routes, and built strategic stockpiles of chips.
The bill, supported by members of both US parties, would help counter this trafficking. A former particle physicist at Fermilab, Bill Foster contributed to the design of detection electronics systems for high-energy scientific experiments, notably in the Tevatron. He told Reuters that the necessary technology for location tracking already exists, citing Google as an example, which tracks its AI chips in its data centers for internal security.
He also highlighted the urgency of the situation due to national security concerns related to AI and weapons development.
The law would grant the Department of Commerce six months to define technical modalities. By having a chip communicate with a secure remote server and measuring signal return times, it would be possible to determine the country where it is used. If that country lacks the necessary authorizations, a mechanism would render it inoperative. Bill Foster acknowledges that remote blocking will be technically challenging to implement but believes it is necessary to already engage in discussions with chip designers to consider this avenue.
Nvidia, for its part, stated that it could not track its products after sale and declined to comment on this legislative initiative. But if the Foster bill is passed, it will have implications for the industry. All AI chip designers (AMD, Intel, specialized startups...) will have to integrate these new tracking and security modules, which will increase design complexity and manufacturing costs. Supercomputer and server farm operators will also need to update their software infrastructure to manage these 'trackable' chips.
Such implementation would be a significant obstacle to technological sovereignty for all countries. While China seems to be particularly targeted by this decision, it is not certain that other countries will be willing to accept such technology without considering countermeasures.
Translated from Projet de loi Foster : comment les États-Unis entendent stopper la contrebande de puces de pointe vers la Chine
To better understand
How do the chip geolocation technologies proposed in the Foster bill work?
The geolocation technologies would integrate functions into chips that communicate with a remote server to verify their position. By measuring signal return times, it is possible to determine their location. This allows for the deactivation of chips if they are found in unauthorized countries.