Taiwanese prosecutors have indicted nine people, including employees of Nvidia and Super Micro Computer, over an alleged scheme to illegally export high end artificial intelligence servers to China.
Prosecutors in the port city of Keelung said eight of the suspects, including one employee of Nvidia’s Taiwan unit and two employees of Super Micro’s Taiwan unit, were charged with breach of trust and document forgery.
The investigation centred on 130 B300 servers ordered from Super Micro. Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly used false documents to make it appear the servers would be installed and operated at a rented facility in Taiwan.
However, 74 of the servers were eventually exported to Chinese customers, either directly or through Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong, prosecutors said. Taiwan customs officials stopped the remaining 56 servers after detecting irregularities in plans to ship them to a company in Japan.
The ninth suspect was charged separately over the alleged diversion of funds from a distributor involved in the scheme.
Prosecutors said the suspects were aware of strict export controls maintained by Nvidia and Super Micro but allegedly worked together to bypass the restrictions for financial gain.
The case comes as Taiwan and the United States tighten controls on the transfer of advanced semiconductor and artificial intelligence technology to China. Washington has restricted the export of certain advanced AI chips and related technology to China since 2022, requiring licences for some transactions.
Taiwan is a major global hub for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, making the island’s export controls an important part of international efforts to prevent sensitive AI technology from reaching China.
Neither Nvidia nor Super Micro immediately responded to requests for comment.
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