How to shut off the AI agent access NVIDIA's app enables by default

A new toggle has appeared in the NVIDIA app settings: “Allow AI agents to control NVIDIA App.” After updating to version 11.0.9.565, the specialist site VideoCardz found it already switched on, and other users reported the same. Next and Frandroid relayed the finding. NVIDIA has not explained the choice.

NVIDIA's release notes confirm the feature exists. According to them, the app “includes a local MCP server” that lets a compatible AI agent control it through natural-language requests. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that gives AI assistants access to a piece of software's functions. NVIDIA cites the Hermes, OpenClaw and Perplexity assistants as examples. According to NXUS, version 11.0.9.565 was announced as a beta on NVIDIA's forum on October 13.

What agents can do

According to VideoCardz and Next, a connected agent can, among other things:

• list installed games, launch one and check whether it is running;
• apply the graphics settings NVIDIA recommends for a game;
• record gameplay video, take screenshots and manage “instant replay”;
• show or hide the performance statistics overlay;
• read the graphics driver version and, on compatible laptops, set the Battery Boost and Whisper modes.

A local server, with no documented access control

The technical documentation NVIDIA published on GitHub explains how it works. The server responds at http://127.0.0.1:13508/mcp. If it cannot use that port, it tries ports 13509 to 13518, then 49152 to 49161. It is hosted by NvContainer, a service of the app, and a bridge (NvAppMcpServer.exe) also allows access without going through the network.

The 127.0.0.1 address means the server listens only on the machine itself: it cannot be reached directly from the Internet or the local network. However, the documentation describes no authentication mechanism, token or verification of where requests come from. That does not prove none exists, but NVIDIA does not document one. NXUS sums it up this way: a local server is not risk-free, since any compatible software on the machine could try to use it.

A second point, noted by tbreak: enabling the server does not automatically connect the app to an external AI service. But if the agent in use runs in the cloud, the information it collects from the PC may be sent to that service. And agents themselves can be hijacked by booby-trapped instructions, as Zenity showed with Amazon's AgentCore agents.

How to turn off access

If you don't use any AI agent, there is no reason to leave the feature on:

1. open the NVIDIA app, then Settings;
2. go to Features and scroll down to “Connect agents and apps”;
3. turn off “Allow AI agents to control NVIDIA App.”

According to VideoCardz, this master switch stops the server. In businesses, on workstations fitted with NVIDIA cards (graphics, design, computing), it is best to check which version is installed and turn the feature off until a clear policy is in place, as NXUS recommends. One question remains open: will NVIDIA keep this default activation in the stable version of its app?