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AllAfrica
12 minutes ago
- AllAfrica
China fears Nvidia chips could track, trace and shut down its AIs
Beijing has asked Nvidia to explain whether its H20 artificial intelligence chips have backdoors that could allow the United States to position and remotely shut them down. Chinese pundits said similar probes could be extended to other American-made chips. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) stated on July 31 that it summoned US tech giant Nvidia over security risks related to its H20 AI chip, which had been sold to China. 'Nvidia's AI chips have been alleged to pose serious security risks, and some US lawmakers have called for advanced chips exported abroad to be equipped with 'tracking and positioning' functions,' said the CAC. The CAC said in a press release that American AI experts have confirmed that the 'tracking and positioning' and 'remote shutdown' technologies of Nvidia chips have matured. It requested that Nvidia explain and submit relevant proof materials regarding this issue. On the same day, Nvidia said its chips do not contain backdoors that would allow anyone to access or remotely control them. It said cybersecurity is critically important to the company. Beijing's summoning of Nvidia came after Reuters reported on July 29 that Nvidia had placed orders for 300,000 H20 chipsets (worth about US$3.6 billion) with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) a week earlier. It also followed the trade talks between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Sweden on July 28-29. In April, the US government stopped Nvidia from shipping its H20 products to China. When Republican US Senator Tom Cotton introduced the 'Chip Security Act' on May 9, the bill received little to no significant media attention at the time. The bill requires AI chips to be subject to export regulations and mandates that products containing these chips be equipped with location-tracking systems to aid in detecting diversion, smuggling or other unauthorized use. It received support from bipartisan lawmakers in the House of Representatives. 'As Congress's chip designer, AI programmer and PhD physicist, I know we have the technical tools to prevent powerful AI technology from getting into the wrong hands,' said Congressman Bill Foster. 'With advanced AI chips being smuggled into China and posing a national security risk, Congress must act.' Following meetings between US and Chinese officials in London on June 9, China agreed to resume shipments of rare earth minerals to the US. In return, the US agreed to allow Chinese firms to use its electronic design automation (EDA) software and resume the shipment of H20 chips and C919 flight engine parts to China. Some commentators said the strong demand for H20 from Chinese firms may hurt Huawei Technologies' Ascend AI chips' market share. Wang Xinxi, a columnist specializing in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector, says in an article that the Ascend 910B has already surpassed H20 in terms of computing power. He says Chinese technology firms still use the H20 only because of its higher bandwidth and software support on the CUDA platform. 'Although the US Congress has not yet passed the Chip Security Act, Nvidia may have already added location-tracking functions in its chips,' he writes. 'All Nvidia computing chips have private data areas where the data is encrypted, so it is technically possible to add a backdoor.' Citing Qihoo 360 Chairperson Zhou Hongyi's recent comments, Chen claims that malicious code can be implanted in a chip during the wafer manufacturing, packaging and testing processes. He says it's difficult for Chinese end-users to identify these unsafe products within the global supply chain, which involves numerous suppliers and distributors. 'If there is any security loophole, Chinese firms must stop using H20,' he adds. 'In the end, companies that use Chinese AI chips will win.' 'Imagine if such 'backdoor' probes were expanded to other major American chip manufacturers in China like Micron, Wall Street investors would quickly sell their semiconductor stocks,' Chen Kai, a Fujian-based writer, says in an article. 'The H20 under probes is a 'freak' from the beginning as it is the downgraded version of the H100,' he writes. 'The Trump administration thought China would thank the US for relaxing its chip export control, and it would easily obtain the Chinese rare earth. It did not expect Nvidia to face security probes.' In 2019, the US banned Huawei routers due to concerns about backdoors. The US Department of Commerce added Huawei to its Entity List in May 2019. In May, Nvidia's Chief Executive Jensen Huang said that tracking massive AI servers or accelerators weighing several tons should not be difficult. However, he said, finding the AI chips after they are sold is impossible. Joseph Hoefer, a Washington, D.C.-based government relations strategist focused on AI, said the intent behind the Chip Security Act is understandable, but its approach creates more problems than it solves. 'First, real-time location tracking of chips is simply not feasible at scale,' Hoefer said. 'Attempting to derive meaningful national security insights from hardware geolocation data would require vast infrastructure, reliable international cooperation, and intensive verification protocols. That level of control does not exist in today's global tech ecosystem.' Secondly, he said, any system tracking chip locations would become an immediate cybersecurity vulnerability. Lastly, he said the compliance burden would fall on responsible US chip makers, which would have to spend time and money implementing unproven tracking systems, navigating regulatory ambiguity, and reporting false positives. Some IT experts have said that, technically, Nvidia can utilize its ecosystem of software and tools, such as the Nvidia Management Library (NVML) and Data Center GPU Manager (DCGM), to identify the locations of its AI chips, each of which has a unique serial number. It would be similar to what Google does to track and manage its AI chips. Google has centralized inventory and asset management systems that track every component, including custom chips such as Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), from manufacturing to deployment. Google's datacenter orchestration and resource management (Borg) can track the real-time performance of every chip. Others argue that even if a chip management software can determine the location of a suspicious AI chip cluster, it will be too late, as it means Chinese firms have already obtained and deployed the chips. Alphabet's Google has already started tracking the location of its in-house AI chips and others in its vast network of data centers for security purposes, Reuters reported on May 6, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Read: Chinese worry Nvidia H20 chips are poisoned wine for AI industry
Straits Times
14 minutes ago
- Straits Times
CICT to remaining 55% of CapitaSpring, raise $500m from private placement to finance it
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The Grade A office tower in Raffles Place has nearly 100 per cent committed occupancy as at end-June. SINGAPORE - CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) on Aug 5 announced the proposed acquisition of the 55 per cent of CapitaSpring it does not already own at an agreed property value of S$1.05 billion. Of this, 45 per cent is from CapitaLand Development (CLD) and 10 per cent is from Mitsubishi Estate. The agreed property value for the whole 51-storey office tower in Raffles Place is $1.9 billion. The total acquisition outlay is estimated $482.3 million. Tan Choon Siang, CEO of CICT's manager said: 'CapitaSpring has consistently performed well, maintaining nearly 100 per cent committed occupancy as at 30 June 2025, underpinned by good quality tenants from diverse trade sectors. We are confident in the office tower's long-term potential to capture future growth, supported by sustained demand for quality Grade A office spaces and limited supply in the core CBD. 'Our Singapore exposure will increase from approximately 94 per cent to 95 per cent of our portfolio property value, advancing our strategic goal to deepen our presence in this core market.' On a pro forma basis, the acquisition is expected to deliver a distribution per unit (DPU) accretion of 1.1 per cent, assuming CICT had held and operated 100 per cent of CapitaSpring's commercial component from Jan 1 to June 30, 2025. CICT intends to finance it (excluding the acquisition fee related to the acquisition of CLD's 45 per cent interest, which will be paid in CICT units) using proceeds raised through a private placement, which is expected to raise $500 million. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Israel to decide next steps in Gaza after ceasefire talks collapse Singapore 'I wish I can hear her sing again,' says boyfriend of Yishun fatal crash victim Asia What's it like to deal with brutal US tariffs? Ask Malaysia Singapore Singapore launches review of economic strategy to stay ahead of global shifts Singapore A look at the five committees reviewing Singapore's economic strategy Opinion Keeping it alive: How Chinese opera in Singapore is adapting to the age of TikTok Life Glamping in Mandai: Is a luxury stay at Colugo Camp worth the $550 price tag? The proposed placement of over 237.5 million new units will have a minimum offering price of $2.105 per unit. The issue price range between $2.105 and $2.142 represents a discount of between around 4.1 and 5.7 per cent to the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of $2.2334 per unit for trades of the units executed on Aug 4. The new units are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange on Aug 14. CICT's manager estimates that the quantum of DPU held as at the close of Aug 13 under the cumulative distribution to be at between 6.92 cents and 7.02 cents. It also announced on Aug 5 that CICT posted a 3.5 per cent year-on-year rise in its first half DPU to 5.62 cents, which will be paid on or around Sept 18. Distributable income for the six months ended June grew 12.4 per cent to $411.9 million, compared with $366.5 million in the year-ago period. This increase was attributed to the income contribution from ION Orchard, which was acquired on Oct 30, 2024, better performance from existing properties and lower interest expenses, partially offset by the divestment of 21 Collyer Quay CICT units were halted from trading before the market opened on Aug 5. They closed on Aug 4 at $2.24, up 2.3 per cent or five cents.
Business Times
14 minutes ago
- Business Times
Beijing evacuates more than 80,000 over heavy rains: state media
[BEIJING] Chinese authorities evacuated over 82,000 people across Beijing at risk from heavy rainfall, state media said, after dozens of people died in flooding in the capital's suburbs last week. State news agency Xinhua said tens of thousands had been relocated from vulnerable areas as of 9.00 pm (1300 GMT) Monday, according to the city's flood control headquarters. Authorities warned of flooding risks in the northwestern suburb of Miyun - the hardest hit by last week's deluge - as well as southwestern Fangshan, western Mentougou and northern Huairou. The municipal weather service also announced a red alert - the highest in a four-tier system - forecasting heavy rain from noon on Monday until Tuesday morning. Floods in Beijing's northern suburbs killed at least 44 people and left nine missing last week, according to official figures. Some 31 fatalities occurred at an elderly care centre in Miyun - prompting a local official to admit 'gaps' in disaster readiness. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Residents of flood-hit areas told AFP journalists that they had been surprised at the speed with which the rushing water inundated homes and devastated villages. A man walks past damaged cars in a flooded neighbourhood in Miyun district, Beijing, China, July 29, 2025. PHOTO: AFP Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat. China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense. But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060. AFP
