On August 14, news broke that U.S. media reported the installation of trackers in chip shipments, which has drawn global attention. The operations behind this have now been revealed.
According to an exclusive report by Reuters, the U.S. secretly installed trackers in artificial intelligence-related chips to monitor “the situation of chips being transported to China.”
The report cites sources from the smart server supply chain, stating that they are aware that Dell and Super Micro’s server shipments included these trackers, which contain chips from Nvidia and AMD. The trackers are typically hidden within the product packaging of the servers.
Additionally, these sources described that this behavior actually began in 2024, when a batch of Dell servers equipped with Nvidia chips not only had large trackers on the shipping boxes but also concealed smaller, more discreet tracking devices inside the packaging and even within the servers themselves (the size of the large tracker is comparable to that of a smartphone).
Sources indicated that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls and enforcement, is typically involved in such operations, and other departments like the FBI may also participate. However, after the news broke, none of the involved parties publicly responded.
Nevertheless, the report emphasizes that the secret installation of trackers is part of the U.S. government’s efforts to restrict the export of advanced chips to China, although it remains unclear whether these chips contain backdoors (the U.S. has been restricting manufacturers like Nvidia and AMD from selling advanced chips to China since 2022).
Prior to this, U.S. Republican Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas had submitted the “Chip Security Act,” aimed at “preventing advanced chips from falling into the hands of U.S. adversaries and protecting the integrity of American products.”
According to this proposal, a location verification mechanism must be established for advanced chips or products containing export-controlled advanced chips within six months of the law’s enactment, requiring exporters of advanced chips to report to BIS if their products are transferred from the designated location or if tampering attempts occur.
This also indirectly explains why the National Cyberspace Administration of China has discussed security risks related to backdoors in Nvidia’s computing chips with the company.
In fact, U.S. law enforcement has been using trackers for decades. According to court rulings reviewed by Reuters from 1985, U.S. Customs intercepted a shipment of U.S. export-controlled equipment at Houston Airport and installed tracking devices.
One source stated that U.S. export enforcement personnel sometimes install trackers after obtaining administrative approval. At other times, a judge’s authorization is required to use such devices. When a permit is obtained, using the information as evidence in criminal cases becomes simpler.
As of the time of publication, Super Micro stated in a statement that it would not disclose “security operations and policies established to protect our global business, partners, and customers,” and declined to comment on any tracking actions by the U.S. government.
Dell stated that the company “is unaware of the U.S. government’s actions to place trackers in its product shipments.” Nvidia declined to comment, and AMD did not respond.
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