21:00Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
Intermediary Pleads Guilty to Illegally Exporting Nvidia AI Chips to China
Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun, an intermediary accused in the illegal shipment of Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips in Super Micro servers to China, has pleaded guilty. He was charged alongside company co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw and sales manager Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang. Sun reached an agreement with prosecutors, but the terms of any potential cooperation have not been disclosed. He will be sentenced on September 8, 2027.
According to the investigation, the group first shipped Super Micro servers equipped with Nvidia chips to a company in Southeast Asia. Fake documents were prepared there, and fake servers were assembled to show inspectors conducting checks. Employees used a hair dryer to remove the real servers’ serial numbers and attached them to the fake cases. The real servers were then delivered to China.
The investigation found that the servers were received by a company registered in Thailand and subsequently delivered to Alibaba. Alibaba denies purchasing the prohibited equipment. Super Micro has also said it was unaware of the operation. Nevertheless, the scheme in question has been linked to $2.5 billion (approximately 4.25 billion manats) in sales since 2024. Shareholders have sued the company, accusing it of concealing its dependence on illegal sales to China.
Liaw has denied the charges and was released on $5 million (approximately 8.5 million manats) bail. The trial of the Super Micro co-founder is expected to begin on November 2, 2026. Chang, the other defendant, remains a fugitive and is wanted by US authorities.
Taiwanese authorities are also conducting a separate investigation into the illegal export of AI chips. Investigators announced that searches had been conducted at several Super Micro offices and the homes of 6 people. The company, however, said its offices had not been raided and that it had allowed police to inspect employees’ computers and other devices. Several employees were dismissed following an internal investigation. Another 9 people have been charged with smuggling Nvidia B300 graphics processing units (GPUs).
Sun’s guilty plea is the latest development in the US administration’s campaign against the illegal export of AI chips. Another technology company executive suspected of smuggling $300 million (approximately 510 million manats) worth of Nvidia AI servers to China was previously detained in California. Through such measures, the US administration is seeking to restrict China’s access to advanced artificial intelligence hardware.