Four individuals from Florida, Alabama, and California face indictment for conspiring to smuggle supercomputers and Nvidia chips to China, according to federal prosecutors. The alleged scheme involved using a sham real estate company to bypass export controls and shipping hardware via Thailand and Malaysia. Authorities claim the defendants exported 40,000 Nvidia A100 GPUs and attempted to smuggle 50 H200 chips, along with 10 supercomputers containing H100 chips. The indictment, unsealed in federal court, highlights the US government’s efforts to curb AI chip exports to China amid concerns over military and surveillance applications. Paresh Dave of Wired Security reports that two Chinese companies allegedly paid nearly $3.9 million for the illicit shipments.
Key facts
- Four defendants are accused of conspiring to smuggle supercomputers and Nvidia chips to China via falsified customs documents.
- The indictment alleges the group used a Florida-based sham real estate company to facilitate the illegal export of advanced hardware.
- Prosecutors claim 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs and 50 H200 chips were shipped to China, with additional attempts to export 10 supercomputers.
- The defendants allegedly received $3.9 million from two undisclosed Chinese companies for their role in the smuggling operation.
- The case underscores US efforts to enforce export controls on AI chips, which are critical for military and surveillance technologies.
