Nvidia has pushed back against accusations from Chinese state media that its H20 artificial intelligence chips pose a security risk to China.
The criticism came Sunday from Yuyuan Tantian, a WeChat account linked to state broadcaster CCTV, which claimed the H20 chips are neither technologically advanced nor environmentally friendly. The post also suggested the chips might contain a hardware “backdoor” enabling “remote shutdown” capabilities.
In response, a Nvidia spokesperson told CNBC: “Cybersecurity is critically important to us. NVIDIA does not have ‘backdoors’ in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them.” The company similarly denied the allegations on Tuesday, rejecting the idea that its chips include a so-called “kill switch.”
The exchange comes amid heightened U.S.–China tensions over semiconductor export controls, even after Nvidia resumed sales of the H20 chip to China. Chinese media has painted the chip as inferior and unsafe compared to Nvidia’s more advanced models, while the company continues to defend its safety and performance.
The H20 — less advanced than Nvidia’s flagship H100 and B100 models — was developed specifically for China after the U.S. restricted exports of high-end AI chips in late 2023. The Trump administration briefly banned H20 sales in April, but that decision was later reversed.
Washington’s export curbs stem from national security concerns that Beijing could use advanced AI chips for military purposes. Chinese officials are reportedly seeking looser restrictions on high-bandwidth memory chips ahead of a possible summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the Financial Times.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has publicly supported Trump’s trade policies while also lobbying for export licenses for the H20, arguing that allowing Nvidia chips to dominate the global AI market ultimately benefits U.S. influence in the sector.
China remains one of Nvidia’s largest markets. The company took a $4.5 billion writedown in May on unsold H20 inventory and said its July-quarter revenue could have been $8 billion higher without the export restrictions. Nvidia’s stock closed Friday up 1% at $182.70, bringing its year-to-date gain to 36%.
Source: CNBC
