Nvidia Denies Claims Of ‘Backdoor Access’ Amid Chinese Security Inquiry

Nvidia (NVDA) on Thursday refuted China’s claims that it allows “backdoor access” in its chips. 

In an emailed response to Bloomberg cited by TheFly regarding China questioning, Nvidia said it does not have "backdoors" in its chips and won't allow backdoor access to its systems.

Nvidia’s stock edged nearly 1% higher in midday trade following a rally in tech stocks after Microsoft’s latest earnings cheered investors. The Invesco QQQ Series 1 Trust (QQQ) hit an all-time high of $574.63 in morning trade, before paring gains. At the time of writing, it was up 0.5%. 

On Stockwits, retail sentiment around Nvidia moved higher with ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past day amid ‘high’ levels of chatter.

Nvidia’s comments come after China’s cybersecurity regulator summoned the company’s representatives to discuss the security risks around the AI chips that the tech giant sells in the country. 

The agency said the move is aimed at “safeguarding the network and data security of Chinese users,” given that U.S. industry experts had said Nvidia’s chips had tracking and remote-shutdown capabilities.

Earlier this month, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia was likely to resume shipments of its H20 AI chips to China after the U.S. Commerce Department had restricted sales earlier this year during his visit to Beijing. The chip was designed specifically to meet U.S. export rules and allow export to China.

Nvidia is also facing an antitrust investigation in China. The State Administration for Market Regulation announced last year that it was investigating the chip-making giant over suspected violations of the country’s antitrust laws. 

Earlier this month, the agency also said that Nvidia may have violated the terms of China’s conditional approval of the company’s acquisition of Israeli chip designer Mellanox Technologies. 

Nvidia’s stock is up more than 33% so far this year and 60% over the past 12 months.

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