US AI Chip Boss Caught Smuggling Nvidia Chips to China Worth Rp 40 Trillion

Executives from a US technology company have been charged with illegally smuggling artificial intelligence (AI) chips made by Nvidia to China. The case involves three individuals connected to AI server manufacturer Super Micro Computer: co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, sales manager Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang, and contractor Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun. The trio are alleged to have executed a scheme to ship servers containing advanced AI chips to China, violating US export control rules in place since 2022. Following the emergence of this case, Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw has reportedly resigned from Super Micro’s board of directors. The company has stated that it is not a defendant in the case and will cooperate with US authorities. Prosecutors claim the suspects smuggled the servers through third countries, such as Taiwan and several regions in Southeast Asia, before final delivery to China. This scheme was designed to avoid strict oversight of AI chip exports, which the US government categorises as strategic technology. To deceive authorities, the three suspects allegedly used various methods, including creating dummy servers for inspection purposes. Meanwhile, the genuine servers containing Nvidia chips were shipped separately to their final destination, as reported by KompasTekno from Reuters. In some instances, they even removed device serial labels using simple tools like hair dryers to disguise the servers’ identities. The total value of the smuggled servers and chips in this case is estimated at around $2.5 billion, or approximately Rp 40 trillion. Consequently, the US government has restricted exports of these chips to China to prevent their use in developing military technology or other advanced systems. Of the three suspects, Liaw and Sun have been arrested, while Chang remains at large according to US authorities. This case highlights the high strategic value of AI chips amid the technological competition between the US and China, which now extends beyond industry levels to cross-border illegal practices.