According to the US Representative, Bill Foster, who is looking to introduce the bill the technology to track AI chips after sale already exists and is embedded in a number of products. There does seem to be credible evidence that large-scale chip smuggling is taking place, and the bill looks to verify that chips remain in authorised locations under export control licenses and will prevent them from operating if not properly licensed.
Smuggling is a growing problem, Singaporean prosecutors recently charged three men for deceiving Dell and Super Micro by falsifying the declared destinations of servers.
The legislation would give the US Department of Commerce a six-month window to develop regulations mandating the use of this technology. However, if the legislation is passed a new technical and compliance framework, that could potentially impact how semiconductor companies design their chips and manage global supply chains, would be required.
