Husqvarna CEO Sees Robotic Mower Demand Boost From Trade Turmoil
'We produce our robotic lawn mowers in Europe, while most of our competitors manufacture their's in China,' outgoing Chief Executive Officer Pavel Hajman, 59, said by phone following the company's first-quarter report. 'So it's a good opportunity.'
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Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
Nvidia Defends Chip Integrity Amid China Cybersecurity Probe: ‘No Back Doors, No Kill Switches'
Nvidia has reiterated that its chips do not have back doors or kill switches, days after being summoned by Chinese authorities over alleged security issues. 'There are no back doors in Nvidia chips. No kill switches. No spyware,' the semiconductor design giant said in a lengthy blog post late Tuesday. 'That's not how trustworthy systems are built—and never will be.'
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Nvidia warns that any GPU 'kill switch' or 'backdoor' into its AI chips would 'fracture trust in US technology'
Nvidia wants to make it crystal clear how it feels about the idea of AI chip "kill switches" and backdoors. The chip giant said governments should not be allowed to spy on its customers, emphatically arguing against software backdoors into its GPUs, which are used to train and run many of the AI models created by Big Tech companies and startups. "NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors," Nvidia's chief security officer, David Reber Jr, wrote in a Tuesday blog post titled "No Backdoors. No Kill Switches. No Spyware." Chinese officials expressed concern to Nivida last week about potential "backdoor security risks" in Nivida's H20 chips, which are specifically designed for the Chinese market, and requested a meeting with the company, The New York Times reported. Nvidia said that allowing potential backdoors, or a way for outside parties to access or control the chips without the owner's detection, would make the overall technology more vulnerable and "fracture trust in US technology." Apple has previously strongly opposed the idea of software backdoors, with CEO Tim Cook once calling the idea "the software equivalent of cancer." Apple publicly fought FBI pressure in 2016 to create custom software to help unlock a dead shooter's iPhone and earlier this year pushed back against a"secret order" from the UK government seeking to force the company to grant backdoor access to iCloud user data. Nvidia's chips are a hot commodity in the AI industry, and are used by OpenAI, Meta, and other major companies to train and operate advanced AI language models. "Hardwiring a kill switch into a chip is something entirely different: a permanent flaw beyond user control, and an open invitation for disaster," Nvidia's Reber wrote. "It's like buying a car where the dealership keeps a remote control for the parking brake — just in case they decide you shouldn't be driving. That's not sound policy. It's an overreaction that would irreparably harm America's economic and national security interests." Reber said it isn't accurate to compare some potential monitoring to "Find my iPhone" or similar services. "That comparison doesn't hold water — optional software features, controlled by the user, are not hardware backdoors," he said. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently secured a major win with President Donald Trump, with the company planning to resume shipments of its H20 chips to the Chinese market after receiving what it said were assurances from the Trump administration that the exports would be approved following earlier restrictions. Huang has repeatedly said that if the US wants to win the AI race, it must allow US companies to do business around the world, including in China. Nvidia declined to comment further to Business Insider. Trump's AI plan calls for the government to work with industry partners to "explore leveraging new and existing location verification features on advanced AI compute to ensure that the chips are not in countries of concern." The White House's location tracking recommendation mirrors a bipartisan bill in Congress, the Chip Security Act, which would require the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that certain chips are outfitted with location security mechanisms. Unlike the White House plan, the legislation also allows for additional security safeguards, though any additional measures would only come after a security review. "The Chip Security Act is the best approach to disrupt nefarious actors from gaining access to critical technologies," Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan, a Republican and the bill's lead author in the House, said in a statement to BI. "This bipartisan legislation does not require the inclusion of spyware or kill switches—any statements to the contrary are disingenuous." A senior congressional aide working on the bill told Business Insider that the legislation would likely not require Nvidia or other major chip manufacturers to make hardware changes to their chips. "The legislation is focused instead on location verification capabilities, which are already included in the majority of high-end AI chips and would likely require no hardware changes whatsoever," the aide said.
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
US charges Chinese nationals with Nvidia chips export breach
Two Chinese nationals were arrested this week on charges that they sent tens of millions of dollars worth of advanced AI chips made by Nvidia Corp. to China in violation of U.S. export restrictions, according to authorities. The defendants used a company based in El Monte, California, to export sensitive technology, including graphics processing units, used in artificial intelligence without obtaining the necessary government licenses, the Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday. According to a criminal complaint provided by the agency, the two individuals shipped Nvidia-designed chips, including the company's H100 AI accelerators, which are the basis for computers used to create and run artificial intelligence software. Such chips require official approval for sales to certain countries. The accused were identified by authorities as Chuan Geng, 28, of Pasadena, and Shiwei Yang, 28, of El Monte. They have been charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act and could face as much as 20 years in prison, according to the Justice Department. Lawyers for the Geng and Yang couldn't be immediately located for comment. "This case demonstrates that smuggling is a nonstarter," Nvidia said in a statement. The company said it primarily sells its products to well-known partners "who help us ensure that all sales comply with U.S. export control rules." "Even relatively small exporters and shipments are subject to thorough review and scrutiny, and any diverted products would have no service, support or updates," Nvidia said. Over the past several years, the U.S. has steadily tightened restrictions on exports of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to keep China from gaining ground in the race for AI dominance. The Trump administration is exploring ways to include enhanced location-tracking in AI chips to help with export control enforcement. Up until being superseded earlier this year by a new line of products from Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia, the H100s were considered the most capable such processors. Their export to China and other countries the U.S. has deemed a threat to national security requires licenses from the Commerce Department that are not usually given. In the complaint, authorities called the H100 "the most powerful GPU chip on the market" and claimed the defendants sought to evade U.S. export restrictions on it by shipping through third countries. The Justice Department said Geng and Yang operated a company called ALX Solutions Inc. that was founded in 2022 shortly after the U.S. Commerce Department began requiring licenses to sell such chips to overseas buyers. Export records and other business documents indicate that the company sent at least 20 shipments to shipping and freight-forwarding companies in Singapore and Malaysia but never received payments from those entities, the Justice Department said. ALX Solutions instead received "numerous payments" from companies based in Hong Kong and China, including a $1 million payment from a China-based company in January 2024, the DOJ said. Those records show that in December 2024, the company had sent a shipment of GPUs that it claimed was in compliance with U.S. export rules, the DOJ said, but neither ALX Solutions nor the defendants had received the U.S. licenses required for such a transaction. Authorities said they searched the ALX Solutions office and seized phones belonging to Geng and Yang and found evidence of communications about shipping chips covered by export controls to China through Malaysia in violation of U.S. restrictions. Yang was also accused of overstaying her visa, according to the Justice Department. Geng is a legal permanent resident, authorities said. A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday ordered Geng released on a $250,000 bond and scheduled a detention hearing for Yang on Aug. 12. The court did not take any pleas in the case. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is assisting the probe, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. -With assistance from Ian King. (Updates with comment from Nvidia in sixth paragraph.) Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
