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The case against the individuals was revealed earlier this year after it was discovered that they diverted Super Micro servers containing Nvidia chips to China. The three were reported to have sent the servers to a Southeast Asian company, which then proceeded to fake the paperwork and create dummy servers for inspectors. Workers then used hair dryers to remove the serial numbers on the real servers to transfer them to the dummy server shells to complete the illusion, while the real servers made their way to China. Further investigation revealed that the three used a Thailand-based corporation to receive the servers, which were then delivered to Alibaba , even as the Chinese tech giant denied receiving the banned Nvidia hardware.
Super Micro has also denied any knowledge of the operation, even as it has netted $2.5 billion in sales since it started in 2024. Nevertheless, the company’s shareholders have sued it, accusing it of concealing its dependence on illicit sales to China . Liaw, on the other hand, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a $5 million bond. The Super Micro co-founder is set to go to trial this coming Nov. 2, even as the third co-conspirator, Chang, remains a fugitive.
California tech CEO arrested, faces up to 20 years in prison for smuggling $300 million in Nvidia AI servers to China
Supermicro fires several employees following investigation into $2.5 billion China AI chip smuggling
Nine indicted by Taiwan over illegal export of Nvidia B300 GPUs to China — details reveal five-point strategy to exploit and avoid customs controls
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Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/super-micro-smuggling-co-conspirator-pleads-guilty-to-sending-ai-chips-to-china-broker-admits-breaking-export-control-rules-as-company-co-founder-denies-charges#main
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