NVIDIA’s Latin America head, Marcio Aguiar, publicly refuted allegations that the region is being used to illicitly transport restricted chips to China. The denial follows claims by Anthropic, a US AI firm, that Chinese laboratories have utilized smuggled processors in their AI development. Aguiar addressed the issue at the Web Summit Rio amidst escalating tensions between the United States and China regarding artificial intelligence technology. He acknowledged the increasing pressure surrounding export controls, but maintained NVIDIA is compliant. The allegations suggest a potential circumvention of US export restrictions designed to limit China’s access to advanced AI technology. This situation highlights the growing global concern over the control of semiconductor technology and its impact on the AI race. NVIDIA’s statement aims to distance the company from any involvement in such activities.