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Chinese authorities are hesitant about integrating Nvidia's H20 technology in critical government tasks.

No reason needed to convince Uncle Sam that kill switches are beneficial

,   and  Administrator
2 min read
Beijing prosists in barring Nvidia's H20s from performing duties on confidential government...
Beijing prosists in barring Nvidia's H20s from performing duties on confidential government assignments

Chinese authorities are hesitant about integrating Nvidia's H20 technology in critical government tasks.

Tensions Between Nvidia's H20 AI Accelerators and Chinese Government

The Chinese government has expressed concern over the use of Nvidia's H20 AI accelerators, particularly in government or national security-related work, due to alleged security risks and concerns about hardware "backdoors" that could allow remote shutdowns or unauthorized access.

This concern intensified after U.S. export control policy shifts, which banned the sale of Nvidia's most advanced AI accelerators to China. The U.S. imposed these restrictions out of national security worries, fearing such hardware could advance China's military or surveillance AI capabilities. However, the U.S. ban was quickly reversed, leading China to interpret these moves as geopolitical maneuvers rather than mere trade regulation.

Chinese regulators directly questioned Nvidia over potential security backdoors in the chip during a meeting on July 31, 2025. Nvidia denies these allegations, maintaining that the H20 contains no malicious backdoors. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are reportedly slashing orders for H20 chips under Beijing’s direction, aiming to reduce dependence on U.S. tech and promote domestic alternatives to avoid security vulnerabilities.

The Nvidia H20 chip has become a source of controversy due to potential inclusion of location tracking technology, backdoors, and remote kill switches. However, Nvidia has not made any public statements about adding such features to its H20 chip in the future.

The U.S. government's end use rules prohibit China from deploying advanced semiconductors in its military supercomputers. However, enforcing these rules once the chips are outside regulators' control remains a challenge.

There is no new information about the temporary block on AMD's China-spec GPU, the MI308. Additionally, there is no new information about the deal between Nvidia, AMD, and the US government requiring them to pay 15 percent of H20 and MI308 revenues to the US government.

In July 2021, Nvidia reached a deal with the US government to resume shipments of the accelerators, requiring them to pay 15 percent of H20 and MI308 revenues to the US government. Trump suggested that Nvidia could allow shipments of a Blackwell-based accelerator in China if its performance was enhanced by 30-50 percent. However, there is no new information about this suggestion.

References:

  1. China's Regulators Question Nvidia Over Security Backdoors in AI Chip
  2. U.S. Imposes Restrictions on Nvidia's H20 Chip for China
  3. China Pressures Companies to Avoid Nvidia's H20 AI Accelerators
  4. China Slashes Orders for Nvidia's H20 Chips to Promote Domestic Alternatives

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