Congress Proposes Chip-Level Location Verification to Thwart AI Chip Smuggling

H.R. 3447 was introduced on May 15, 2025 by Rep. Bill Huizenga, with Rep. Bill Foster as a co-sponsor, and referred to House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Senate companion, S. 1705, was introduced on May 8, 2025 by Sen. Tom Cotton and sent to Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. By June 19, 2026 both measures remain introduced and have not progressed out of committee. The bills would require integrated circuits in export-control categories 3A090 (high-performance computing) and 4A090 (AI accelerators) to embed security mechanisms that verify location before export, re-export, or any in-country transfer. Licensees must report credible evidence of relocation, user change, or attempts to disable or spoof location checks.

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

U.S. officials have documented instances of restricted Nvidia AI hardware being routed through intermediary hubs in Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand before reaching China, exposing the limits of paperwork-based controls. The proposals direct the Commerce Department to confirm a chip’s post-shipment location, examine workload verification, anti-tampering methods, and assess whether tracking mechanisms could introduce new vulnerabilities. They also mandate confidentiality safeguards, cost-benefit analysis, and performance-impact studies before any location-verification system is deployed.

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

Proponents argue that reliance on end-user certificates alone is insufficient and that hardware-level verification represents an essential evolution of export controls after repeated circumvention. The bills stress confidentiality and require analytical reviews to avoid unintended data exposure. Industry observers, however, warn that mandatory location checks could add friction between purchase orders and delivery, raise costs for chip manufacturers, and raise privacy concerns because location data might reveal data-center sites, procurement strategies, and workload details. Critics further caution that embedding tracking hardware may create new attack surfaces that adversaries could exploit.

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

Public records confirm the bills’ introduction but provide no timeline for committee action or estimates of how many chips have already been diverted. The source material offers no quantitative data on the volume of smuggled chips, nor detailed technical feasibility studies for large-scale chip-level verification.

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

• “No more pretending an end-user certificate is enough.” — Startup Fortune, Publication

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

• “If Commerce can verify where an exported AI accelerator or server sits after shipment, smugglers have a harder time routing restricted hardware through Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, or another intermediary and then moving it onward to China.” — Startup Fortune, Publication

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

• “You don’t have to be soft on China to see the problem.” — Startup Fortune, Publication

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

• “The better conclusion is not that Congress is about to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip tomorrow.” — Startup Fortune, Publication

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country

The bills must clear their respective committees before a floor vote. If advanced, Commerce will draft technical standards and conduct confidentiality reviews. Nvidia and other chip makers are likely to monitor the process closely, as any mandated hardware changes could affect product design, supply-chain logistics, and global customer relationships.

Congress wants to put a GPS tracker on every Nvidia chip that leaves the country