- Beijing has taken Nvidia to court over "serious security concerns."
- The H20 chip was approved for export by the US specifically for the Chinese market.
- Experts doubt the evidence base for the charges.
Chinese regulators have said that Nvidia's H20 AI chips, which the U.S. recently cleared for shipment, contain "backdoors" that allegedly allow devices to be tracked and remotely disabled.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has subpoenaed the company, demanding clarification and documentation of security breaches it has uncovered, in a move that analysts say has jeopardized Nvidia's plans to rebuild its business in the country.
The H20 was created to circumvent U.S. export restrictions and was intended to be Nvidia's key product in the Chinese market. After the ban on shipments was lifted, the company's CEO Jensen Huang personally visited Beijing. He assured customers of the company's reliability and introduced a new Blackwell series GPU that complies with Washington's regulations.
However, the CAC's claims are not yet supported by concrete facts. China technology expert Paul Triolo noted that he is skeptical of the allegations, since the regulator has not disclosed the sources of the analysis or the results of the Chinese tests. Nvidia has not yet issued an official comment.
Against this backdrop, Beijing is stepping up its push to replace high-tech products. Large corporations are being advised to increase their purchases of domestic chips. This benefits Huawei and local manufacturers Biren and Cambricon, which receive state support for developing a national AI ecosystem.
Meanwhile, pressure on chipmakers is mounting in the U.S., with Congress debating legislation that could require Nvidia and its rivals to build tracking systems into processors they export. Opponents say such measures would accelerate the development of Chinese AI and threaten American security.
Experts note that the situation remains uncertain. H20 production has resumed, but it will be nine months before deliveries reach customers. There are influential forces on both sides of the Pacific Ocean opposing the deal: in the U.S., for security reasons; in China, to speed up the transition to an independent chip industry.
