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Investing.com - U.S. authorities have placed location tracking devices inside of some cutting-edge chips they view as at risk of being diverted illegally to China, according to Reuters.
Citing two people with direct knowledge of the situation, the news agency said the trackers are designed to help U.S. law enforcement detect artificial intelligence chips which are being sent to destinations currently under export restrictions. The move only applies to select shipments under investigation, Reuters added.
Although the White House has recently looked to soften some of its gate-keeping of China’s access to advanced American semiconductor technology, the measures suggest the steps U.S. officials have taken to monitor chip export restrictions to China, Reuters said.
The trackers can be used to develop cases against individuals or companies who allegedly profit from the sale of items currently under these restrictions, the report noted, adding that such devices have been employed in other instances in recent years.
Reuters quoted five people as saying that the trackers are in shipments of AI servers from manufacturers like Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) and Dell (NYSE:DELL). Chips from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) are reportedly among these shipments.
Previously, U.S. lawmakers, partly in an effort to dent China’s push to modernize its military capabilities, have proposed requiring domestic chip firms to build location verification technology within their chips to keep the processors from being diverted to nations covered by export restrictions.
Beijing, for its part, has hit out at the proposal as a political tactic to prevent its rise.
Earlier this year, Nvidia was summoned by officials in the powerful Cyberspace Administration of China to express concerns over the plans. The company later stressed that its products have no "backdoors" that could allow remote access or control.