Credit: CFP

AsianFin -- The U.S. is exploring ways to embed advanced location-tracking capabilities into semiconductors, a senior official said, highlighting Washington’s escalating efforts to monitor and control the flow of high-end chips from companies like Nvidia Corp. to China.

Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the Biden administration is in talks with industry players about introducing software or physical modifications to chips that would enable more precise location-tracking. The measure is part of a broader U.S. initiative to prevent smuggling and ensure American dominance in critical technologies.

“There is discussion about potentially the types of software or physical changes you could make to the chips themselves to do better location-tracking,” Kratsios told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, adding that such provisions are explicitly outlined in the AI action plan unveiled by Donald Trump last month.

Kratsios, who was speaking from South Korea during an APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting, urged regional allies to adopt American AI technologies, pledging federal financing tools to support exports to trusted partners. “The next trailblazing breakthroughs will be made with and on American technology, and to fully harness them, you will want America’s AI infrastructure already in place,” he told delegates.

The chip-tracking proposal has sparked backlash in Beijing, where authorities summoned Nvidia representatives last week to discuss Washington’s push for location-tracking and alleged security risks tied to its H20 chips. China has long criticized U.S. semiconductor sanctions as a form of technological containment targeting companies like Huawei Technologies Co. and emerging AI players such as DeepSeek.

While Trump administration officials have offered to ease certain export curbs on Nvidia’s H20 chips as part of a broader trade deal, U.S. regulators remain focused on tightening anti-smuggling controls. Kratsios said he hasn’t personally held talks with Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices Inc. about the location-tracking initiative.

In response to Washington’s proposals, Nvidia issued a statement on Tuesday rejecting any demands for backdoors or “kill switches” in its chips. “There are no back doors in Nvidia chips. No kill switches. No spyware,” the company wrote in a blog post. “That’s not how trustworthy systems are built — and never will be.”

Kratsios also criticized Beijing’s competing AI governance framework, which advocates for a global organization to define industry standards. “We believe each country should set their own destiny on how they think about regulating artificial intelligence,” he said. “The U.S. model, which puts innovation first, will be the most attractive.”