Co-Founder of Super Micro Arrested for Smuggling $2.5 Billion Worth of Nvidia Chips to China
Prosecutors say Wally Liaw and two associates used a “tangled web of lies” to smuggle banned AI chips through a Southeast Asian middleman.
Did Wally Liaw break the law? The 71-year-old co-founder of server maker Super Micro was arrested Thursday for allegedly smuggling $2.5 billion of Nvidia AI chips to China. Prosecutors say Liaw and two associates hid them in servers, and then sold the servers to a Southeast Asian company, which repackaged them and sent them to China without the required U.S. export license.
The alleged scheme involved fake paperwork and concealment tactics to fool Super Micro’s compliance team, according to the indictment. U.S. export controls ban the sale of Nvidia’s advanced B200 and H200 chips to China without a license, citing national security concerns.
If convicted, Liaw faces up to 20 years in prison.
Did Wally Liaw break the law? The 71-year-old co-founder of server maker Super Micro was arrested Thursday for allegedly smuggling $2.5 billion of Nvidia AI chips to China. Prosecutors say Liaw and two associates hid them in servers, and then sold the servers to a Southeast Asian company, which repackaged them and sent them to China without the required U.S. export license.
The alleged scheme involved fake paperwork and concealment tactics to fool Super Micro’s compliance team, according to the indictment. U.S. export controls ban the sale of Nvidia’s advanced B200 and H200 chips to China without a license, citing national security concerns.
If convicted, Liaw faces up to 20 years in prison.
