Nvidia GPUs smuggled to China: Indictment against Supermicro executives

In the USA, two senior managers of the computer manufacturer Super Micro Computer and another suspect have been indicted for allegedly illegally selling Nvidia chips to China. This is according to statements from the US Department of Justice and Supermicro. Although the prosecution has made the names of the accused public, they have not named their employer. Super Micro Computer itself has made public that it concerns two employees and a contractor. The Senior Vice President for Business Development and the managing director in the Taiwanese branch have therefore been suspended with immediate effect. Supermicro's share price subsequently fell by 12 percent.

Deception with “Dummy Servers”

According to the US Department of Justice, the accused ordered servers with Nvidia GPUs on behalf of a company in Southeast Asia. These were assembled in the USA and then shipped to Taiwan. From there, they were transported to the company that had ordered them but did not use them. Instead, a logistics company was commissioned to hide the servers in unlabeled packaging, in which they were taken to China. To conceal this, non-functional copies of the servers were even stored at the client's premises to deceive inspectors. Among other things, the accused also forged documents.

In total, it concerns server technology worth 2.5 billion US dollars, it is said. Between the end of April and mid-May 2025 alone, technology worth 510 million US dollars was smuggled to China in violation of sanctions. At the same time, the accused became increasingly “brazen” over time, according to the US Justice Department. If convicted on all counts, they face several decades in prison. After the indictment was disclosed, the senior manager and the contractor were arrested; the managing director of the Taiwanese branch is reportedly on the run.

(mho)