Taiwan Prosecutors Charge Three Over Nvidia AI Chip Smuggling Route to China
Taiwan prosecutors suspect three individuals successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia AI chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, in what marks the island’s first public crackdown on AI-chip diversion after years of US pressure. The trio was detained last week by Taiwan’s Keelung District Prosecutors Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the United States has barred from sale to China without a Washington licence. The probe may be the first known prosecution of an AI-chip smuggling route through Japan.
Japan is one of many locations in Asia where Chinese companies access US AI chips by renting hardware owned by foreign firms and installed in overseas data centres. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, asked on 23 May about the Taiwan case, said the chipmaker is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all its partners. Super Micro responded that its “robust compliance frameworks” are “supported by rigorous due diligence in alignment with Nvidia and other partners”. The case sits against the wider Taiwan-China security backdrop: Beijing has conducted two “joint combat readiness patrols” around Taiwan in the past week, with the Liaoning carrier group operating in the West Pacific. Washington has paused a $14bn arms sale to Taiwan to conserve munitions for the Iran war.