Nvidia Employee Charged in Taiwan Over Alleged Smuggling of AI Servers to China

An Nvidia employee has been charged in Taiwan with allegedly helping smuggle advanced AI servers to China in what is believed to be the first known indictment of a worker at the US chipmaker over illegal exports, Eleanor Olcott reported for the Financial Times.

Nvidia's Taiwan operations are at the center of an investigation into the alleged illegal diversion of advanced AI servers to China. [Photo: NVIDIA Asia Pacific Facebook]

Taiwan's Keelung District Prosecutors' Office charged nine people, including employees of server maker Super Micro Computer, with allegedly illegally selling high-end AI servers to Chinese customers.

Prosecutors accused the defendants of colluding for financial gain and of seriously damaging Taiwan's international image. 

Prosecutors identified a Taiwan-based Nvidia distribution manager surnamed Chang as a central figure in a scheme involving 130 Super Micro servers equipped with Nvidia's advanced B300 chips.

The defendants allegedly represented the servers as being destined for use at a facility in Taiwan, but prosecutors said 74 were ultimately shipped to Chinese customers through third countries, while Taiwanese authorities intercepted the remaining 56. 

The B300 is part of Nvidia's advanced AI computing portfolio and is subject to US export restrictions aimed at limiting China's access to cutting-edge AI technology.

Nvidia said it is committed to complying with applicable laws and is cooperating with the investigation.