SAN FRANCISCO, California: A U.S. lawmaker wants to introduce a new law that would help track where advanced AI computer chips, like those made by Nvidia, end up after they are sold.

There have been reports that many of these chips are being illegally sent to China despite U.S. rules banning such sales.

These chips are essential for building AI systems such as chatbots, image generators, and even tools that could help make dangerous weapons.

Presidents Trump and Biden have implemented stricter export rules to prevent this. Still, last year, Nvidia made $17 billion from China, which is 13 percent of its total sales.

However, news organizations have found that some of these banned chips are still being imported into China. Nvidia says it can’t track where its chips go after they are sold.

Congressman Bill Foster, a Democrat from Illinois and former scientist believes the technology to track these chips already exists — and is even built into Nvidia’s products. Experts agree with him. Foster plans to introduce a bill soon that would do two things:

1. It would require tracking AI chips to ensure they are only being used in places approved by the U.S.

2. It would stop chips from working if they are not correctly licensed for export.

Foster says there are already strong signs of illegal chip smuggling. He warned that the Chinese military could use these chips to build robust AI systems or weapons.

The problem gained more attention recently when it was revealed that a Chinese AI company, DeepSeek, used banned Nvidia chips. In Singapore, prosecutors have even charged people with fraud in a case possibly involving Nvidia chips.

While this tracking technology isn’t widely used yet, it already exists. Google, for example, tracks its AI chips inside its data centers for security. Foster wants the U.S. Commerce Department to create rules using this technology within six months.

Both Democrats and Republicans support the idea, though the bill hasn’t been officially introduced yet. One Republican, John Moolenaar, said there is strong support for requiring companies like Nvidia to include chip tracking.

The tracking system would work by measuring how long it takes for a signal to travel from the chip to a secure computer server — helping determine where the chip is located. This would give at least a rough idea of the country the chip is in.

Experts say this would help U.S. officials figure out which chips may have been smuggled and which ones are likely safe.

Foster’s second proposal—to block unlicensed chips from even turning on—would be more challenging to implement. But he believes now is the right time to begin working on both ideas.

“We have gotten enough input that I think now we can have more detailed discussions with the actual chip and module providers to say, ‘How would you actually implement this?'” Foster told Reuters.