Although NVIDIA has consistently and emphatically refuted claims about the presence of backdoor programs in its graphics cards, recent reports from U.S. media outlets have unveiled that the company has indeed developed GPU chip location technology. This innovative tech enables real-time tracking of the physical whereabouts of the chips. It harnesses the confidential computing capabilities inherent in GPUs. By scrutinizing the time delay in communication between the chip and NVIDIA's servers, the technology can infer the country or region where the chip is situated, achieving a level of accuracy on par with mainstream internet-based location services.

This particular feature is presented as an optional software installation for customers. Initially, it is compatible with the latest Blackwell architecture chips, and there are plans to expand its compatibility to encompass previous generations of chips in the foreseeable future. NVIDIA underscores that the primary purpose of this technology is to aid data centers in keeping tabs on the health status, performance metrics, and inventory levels of GPU clusters. Additionally, it serves as a preventive measure to stop chips from being exported to countries subject to export restrictions. The company firmly states that this technology is not intended for remote control purposes or for disabling hardware.