Nvidia denies China’s claim that its AI chips contain hidden kill switches or backdoors

来源 Cryptopolitan

Nvidia has pushed back against China’s claims that its AI chips come with built-in kill switches or hidden backdoors.

On Tuesday, the company’s Chief Security Officer, David Reber, wrote, “NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors,” in a blog post.

The post followed a formal request from the Cyberspace Administration of China, which had asked Nvidia to submit documents related to potential vulnerabilities in its H20 chip, a GPU designed specifically for the Chinese market. The Chinese regulator cited “backdoor” concerns as a security risk.

The timing wasn’t random. The U.S. government has already placed export controls on multiple Nvidia chips, warning that they could be used in AI-powered weapons or to give China an edge in military or surveillance technology.

Now China wants guarantees that these American-made chips don’t include any secret functions that let outsiders shut them down or access them remotely. Nvidia is caught between two governments demanding opposing things; one wants more restrictions, the other wants full transparency.

Nvidia warns against kill switches, points to past failures

David said adding kill switches or backdoors would be reckless. “Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors,” he wrote. He added that it would “undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology.” Instead of creating vulnerabilities, U.S. law requires companies to fix them, he said.

The blog post also referenced well-known chip bugs like Spectre and Meltdown, which were discovered in CPUs a few years ago. At the time, governments and tech companies around the world responded fast and united to patch the issues. David said that mindset still matters today.

Nvidia also said it designs its chips with “defense in depth,” meaning each chip has layers of security, not just one line of defense. That makes it harder for hackers to break in. The company made it clear this is how they’ve always worked, and how the entire American tech industry should keep working.

To make the point even clearer, Nvidia brought up the Clipper Chip, a U.S. government project from 1993. It was supposed to allow strong encryption but let the NSA unlock messages when needed. That chip had a backdoor, and that backdoor turned out to be a huge risk.

Hackers could abuse it. Users didn’t trust it. And the whole project collapsed. Nvidia’s post said that the experiment showed exactly what goes wrong when backdoors are baked into hardware.

China’s demand triggers broader tech battle with the U.S.

Nvidia also responded to comparisons being made between GPU kill switches and smartphone features like “find my phone” or “remote wipe.” David dismissed the analogy. Those smartphone tools are optional and controlled by the user. A kill switch built into a chip is permanent and invisible to the user.

Instead, Nvidia says it supports open, transparent software, where customers can monitor performance, report bugs, and get patches, all with their knowledge and permission.

The company says that’s responsible security. But building in a hardware-level kill switch would remove user control, create a permanent weakness, and open the door for serious abuse.

The H20 chip under review is part of Nvidia’s custom lineup made to comply with U.S. export restrictions. Nvidia developed it for the Chinese market after tighter trade rules went into effect. Now, even that chip is under pressure, with China accusing it of being unsafe and the U.S. insisting on tighter control over where its chips end up and what they can do.

Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang has argued that it’s in America’s interest for Nvidia chips to dominate the global AI market, even in China. That way, he says, the U.S. gets visibility into how and where the chips are used. But China doesn’t seem interested in trusting that line of thinking.

Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More

免责声明:仅供参考。 过去的表现并不预示未来的结果。
placeholder
净利润翻倍但股价狂泻,亚马逊Q4财报“罪不至此”?TradingKey - 美国科技巨头亚马逊Amazon(AMZN.US)于2月7日周四盘后公布了喜忧参半的2024年第四季业绩。营收和盈利超预期,但财测逊色、资本支出飙高,重挫盘后股价一度跌逾7%。亚马逊这份成绩单亮点不少,比如削减成本措施奏效、净利润几乎翻倍增长、云计算部门连续三个季度保持19%的增长率、电子商务业务在假日季表现强劲等。然而,投资人尤其关注的AI增长前景和资本支出令人唏嘘:一边
作者  TradingKey
2 月 07 日 周五
TradingKey - 美国科技巨头亚马逊Amazon(AMZN.US)于2月7日周四盘后公布了喜忧参半的2024年第四季业绩。营收和盈利超预期,但财测逊色、资本支出飙高,重挫盘后股价一度跌逾7%。亚马逊这份成绩单亮点不少,比如削减成本措施奏效、净利润几乎翻倍增长、云计算部门连续三个季度保持19%的增长率、电子商务业务在假日季表现强劲等。然而,投资人尤其关注的AI增长前景和资本支出令人唏嘘:一边
placeholder
暴涨2366%!寒武纪成为中国新“股王”,创始人身价超2000亿在中国支持国产芯片的背景下,“AI 芯片第一股” 寒武纪8月暴涨130%。
作者  Tony Chou
8 月 28 日 周四
在中国支持国产芯片的背景下,“AI 芯片第一股” 寒武纪8月暴涨130%。
placeholder
8月29日财经早餐:FED降息预期升温,标普、道指齐创新高,美元下跌、黄金上破3400美联储9月降息预期进一步升温,美国第二季国内生产总值(GDP)以年率计按季增长3.3%,高于此前报告的3.0%和经济学家预估的3.1%。但市场担忧当前的GDP报告并不能真实反映经济健康状况,经济学家预计进口关税对GDP的拖累将在未来几个季度更加明显。另外,美联储理事库克对特朗普提起诉讼,试图阻止后者的解职举动。投资者关注的美国7月个人消费支出(PCE)物价指数将于周五(8月29日)公布,预计7月核心PCE按年增长率达2.9%,为5个月来最快增速。数据被视为评估通胀走势与美联储政策前景的重要依据。
作者  Insights
8 月 29 日 周五
美联储9月降息预期进一步升温,美国第二季国内生产总值(GDP)以年率计按季增长3.3%,高于此前报告的3.0%和经济学家预估的3.1%。但市场担忧当前的GDP报告并不能真实反映经济健康状况,经济学家预计进口关税对GDP的拖累将在未来几个季度更加明显。另外,美联储理事库克对特朗普提起诉讼,试图阻止后者的解职举动。投资者关注的美国7月个人消费支出(PCE)物价指数将于周五(8月29日)公布,预计7月核心PCE按年增长率达2.9%,为5个月来最快增速。数据被视为评估通胀走势与美联储政策前景的重要依据。
placeholder
标普500指数突破6500点,再创历史新高!牛市继续or回调? 只要通胀不出现意外上行,美股或将继续走高,瑞银看涨标普500指数至6800点。
作者  Alison Ho
8 月 29 日 周五
只要通胀不出现意外上行,美股或将继续走高,瑞银看涨标普500指数至6800点。
placeholder
【台股短線策略】AI題材火爆,高盛點名台積電(2330)為最被低估的AI受惠股輝達財報進一步印證了人工智慧(AI)熱潮,美股三大股指全線走高,標普、道指齊創新高,加之市場進一步押注聯准會降息,美債殖利率全線向下,市場樂觀情緒得以延續。投資者聚焦於週五(8月29日)公佈的美國7月個人消費支出(PCE)物價指數,預計7月核心PCE按年增長率達2.9%,為5個月來最快增速。數據將被視為評估通脹走勢與聯准會政策前景的重要依據。
作者  Insights
8 月 29 日 周五
輝達財報進一步印證了人工智慧(AI)熱潮,美股三大股指全線走高,標普、道指齊創新高,加之市場進一步押注聯准會降息,美債殖利率全線向下,市場樂觀情緒得以延續。投資者聚焦於週五(8月29日)公佈的美國7月個人消費支出(PCE)物價指數,預計7月核心PCE按年增長率達2.9%,為5個月來最快增速。數據將被視為評估通脹走勢與聯准會政策前景的重要依據。
goTop
quote