North Korea uses banned NVIDIA GPUs for AI-powered crypto theft
North Korea reportedly uses banned NVIDIA GPUs to conduct AI-powered cryptocurrency theft and advance synthetic media capabilities, circumventing international sanctions. A South Korean government research institute warned that these technologies could scale attacks dramatically and enable deepfake production and detection evasion.
What happened
North Korea is using banned NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2700 graphics cards, designated as prohibited for export to North Korea by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, to power AI research focused on pattern recognition, speech processing, and data optimization.
Research at North Korean institutions including the National Academy of Sciences' Mathematical Research Institute and Pyongyang Lee University has targeted facial recognition, multi-object tracking, lightweight voice synthesis, and accent identification since the 2010s.
North Korea-linked hacking teams are using advanced AI tools to scan codebases, detect vulnerabilities in smart contracts, and create fake recruiter profiles with AI-generated convincing identities or messages.
Reported impact
The South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy reported that AI capabilities could be applied to deepfake production, detection evasion, and optimized crypto asset theft, potentially enabling industrial-scale attacks with a small number of personnel.
Crypto hacks totaled $172.5 million in November 2025, with code vulnerabilities accounting for $130.2 million in losses.
Index analysis
The GPUs are classified as 'dual-use' technology subject to U.S. export controls due to their potential application to AI research, cryptography, and national security concerns.
North Korea has been building AI capabilities for nearly 30 years and began showing serious interest in cryptocurrency theft around 2017 as a means to bypass international sanctions and generate untraceable revenue.
Governance controls
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2700 as prohibited for export or re-export to North Korea.
Kim Min Jung, who heads the Advanced Technology Strategy Center at INSS, warned that 'precise monitoring of North Korea's AI research trends and policy responses to suppress the military and cyber diversion of related technologies are urgently needed.'
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.