It’s a familiar game by now: The USA is tightening its export controls, China is finding new ways. Whether via Dubai, Singapore or the good old “re-export loophole” – the highly coveted AI accelerators from NVIDIA continue to reliably end up where they are not supposed to, despite the ban. And because traditional trade barriers are apparently no longer getting anywhere, Washington is now thinking about something that sounds more like science fiction than sober industrial policy: a built-in kill switch directly in the chip.
Chip control by remote control?
Democrat Bill Foster, a full-time MP and physicist with chip design experience in a previous life, is putting forward a bill that packs a punch. His proposal: NVIDIA should be forced to equip its AI accelerators with some kind of tracking function in future. And – if necessary – the chips could then simply be switched off. Via software, firmware or who knows, perhaps even wirelessly. One thing is certain: as soon as an unlicensed user appears or a chip transmits on a “wrong” IP address, someone in Washington will metaphorically press the “off” button. The idea behind this is clear: control. If physical export cannot be prevented, then the digital leash can. The chip is allowed to travel, but only within authorized borders. Anyone who does not comply will have their lights switched off – regardless of whether the data center is located in Shenzhen, Dubai or Frankfurt.
Hardware as a geopolitical weapon
The idea doesn’t seem entirely far-fetched, as China has in fact been working hard for years to develop alternatives to NVIDIA hardware – for example with Huawei’s Ascend series or chip designs from Alibaba. Nevertheless, access to Western hardware remains a technological advantage that China does not want to lose. And this is precisely Washington’s nightmare: that Chinese military projects or AI developments end up working with NVIDIA components while the US industry is allowed to watch its technology being misappropriated. Foster puts it in a nutshell: AI is not just a research topic, but a security policy problem. His statement to Reuters sounds like an echo from the height of the Cold War: “At some point, we’ll discover that the Chinese army is building weapons with chip arrays or working on general artificial intelligence – just as real as nuclear technology.”
NVIDIA waves goodbye – and for good reason
NVIDIA itself remains – unsurprisingly – reticent. They simply have no influence on what happens to the chips after they are sold. And on top of that: Such a monitoring function would not only raise technical questions, but also legal ones. What happens if a chip is deactivated “by mistake”? Who is liable in the event of production downtime? How do you protect against misuse or hacker attacks on this very “kill function”? The geopolitical damage should not be underestimated either. Who wants to buy hardware that can be switched off remotely at any time? Trust in US technology companies – already fragile – would not necessarily increase with such a measure. Countries like Germany or France in particular are unlikely to be thrilled if their high-end infrastructure suddenly switches to standby just because an algorithm in Washington has become nervous.
Trust vs. control – a calculation without a solution
The idea of equipping chips with a kind of black box is not technically new. Something similar already exists in a military context. But a widespread introduction in the commercial market? That smells more of panic than strategy. And it sends a clear signal: the USA trusts neither the global market nor its trading partners – and least of all itself. For China, this could be a gift. Because while Washington is contemplating control, research, development and production are continuing in Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Their own AI chips, their own frameworks, their own standards – and all without remote shutdown.
When control becomes a weakness
Foster’s proposal is exemplary of a policy that has its back to the wall. Instead of securing technological leadership through innovation, surveillance is now to become a lifeline. Will this work? Doubtful. Will it create trust? Probably not. And will it really stop China? We can remain skeptical.
Source: Reuters
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