Three individuals with ties to Super Micro Computer Inc. have been charged by the US Department of Justice with helping to smuggle at least $2.5 billion worth of AI technology into China.
ih-Shyan Liaw, a co-founder of Super Micro, Ruei-Tsang Chang, a sales manager in the Taiwan office, and Ting-Wei Sun, a contractor, are accused of participating in the smuggling operation to circumvent US technology barriers imposed on China. So far, only Liaw and Sun have been arrested, while Chang is still wanted.
To smuggle, American-made computer browsers were shipped to Taiwan and then to the Southeast Asian country. There, the browser machines were converted into unlabeled boxes and shipped to China. The labels and serial numbers from the real machines were transferred to dummy machines to fool authorities.
Super Micro was not named as a defendant and said it was cooperating with investigators. The company placed Liaw and Chang on paid leave and terminated Sun’s contract. The DOJ did not specify which chips were involved, but Nvidia dominates the market for high-powered AI chips.
This case is linked to a syndicate smuggling AI equipment from Singapore to China via Johor last year, to the point where MITI required permits to export and transit chips from the United States.
