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Decision AI Models Enter Mainstream as TypeSafe's Jev Draws Fastino and Open-Source RivalsMicro Center Ties RTX 5090 Sales to Photo ID and Export Declaration FormTechRadar Names Amazon Australia Products It Says Shoppers Should Not Buy at Full PriceJev Valued at $10B as TypeSafe AI CEO Says Reliability Is AI's Missing PieceApple tightens macOS full-disk access to curb AI agent misuseSouth Korean Papers Lead With Suspected AI-Linked Bank Hacking, Samsung HBM Price Report
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Micro Center Ties RTX 5090 Sales to Photo ID and Export Declaration Form

Micro Center has begun requiring buyers of Nvidia's RTX 5090, or PCs containing it, to sign an export declaration and show government-issued photo ID, according to TechRadar. The retailer says the GPU cannot be purchased in order to resell or export it to China.

AI News Feed · 2026-10-03 13:17

The form, reported by PC Gamer after a Reddit user was made to complete and sign it, was accompanied by a scan of the buyer's driver's license for identification. The purchase in question was a PowerSpec AI90 workstation PC containing an RTX 5090 at the Micro Center store in Tustin, California. Another person posting in the same Reddit thread said the form had also appeared at the chain's Columbus, Ohio, location.

TechRadar reported that the policy is new and began at Micro Center this week, though other US retailers, including Central Computers, already follow a similar practice. The stated purpose is to keep scalpers from buying up the RTX 5090, or the prebuilt systems containing it, and reselling the hardware to China at a profit. Prebuilt PCs carrying the card can now cost roughly the same as the standalone GPU and are sometimes the only route to obtaining the card at all.

Reddit commenters were quick to question how the declaration could be enforced, noting that it is not legally binding and that someone who breaks its terms would face few practical consequences. PC Gamer and TechRadar both described the ID check as a deterrent of sorts: buyers making a short trip to the US and reselling the card at a markup back home would be unable to supply a US address and a government photo ID verified as their own.

Reaction among customers has been mixed. Some Reddit users said they had no objection to the paperwork because it works against scalping. Others said they were uneasy about handing personal information to a retail store for what they consider an unnecessary reason, or simply regarded the process as a waste of time. One Redditor wrote: "This is ridiculous."

According to the same Reddit thread, Micro Center also limits each customer to a single RTX 5090 purchase in total, with no further purchases permitted once a card has been bought.

Editor's Summary

Micro Center now requires RTX 5090 buyers, including buyers of prebuilt PCs with the card, to sign an export declaration and submit to a government photo ID scan, a policy TechRadar says started this week at its Tustin and, per shopper reports, Columbus stores. The retailer is trying to block scalpers from reselling the GPU to China, but the form is not legally binding and enforcement remains unclear. Customer reaction is split between support for an anti-scalping measure and objections to handing over personal data.