Taiwanese prosecutors on Monday charged nine individuals, including one Nvidia Taiwan employee and two Super Micro Taiwan staff, over a scheme that illegally exported high-end AI servers equipped with Nvidia B300 GPUs to China, a direct breach of U.S. export controls.
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office said the defendants made 130 Super Micro B300 servers appear destined for a rented server facility in Taiwan, using false end-user documentation. Of those 130 servers, 74 were ultimately shipped to Chinese customers through direct shipments and transshipments via Indonesia, Japan, and Hong Kong, prosecutors said.
Customs Intercepted Remaining 56 Servers
Taiwanese customs officials detected irregularities before the remaining 56 servers could be exported, blocking the shipments. Prosecutors said the defendants were “fully aware” that both Nvidia and Super Micro maintain strict internal export controls, but “colluded with one another at various levels for enormous profit.”
The charges include breach of trust, document forgery, and illegal export of controlled goods. A ninth defendant was charged separately in connection with allegedly siphoning funds from a distributor company involved in the scheme, according to the prosecutors’ statement.
U.S. Export Controls Have Targeted China’s AI Sector Since 2022
Washington has imposed increasingly strict controls since 2022 on the sale of advanced semiconductors to China without a license, making it illegal for B300-class chips to be shipped there. The indictment adds to a series of enforcement actions across the Asia-Pacific as authorities crack down on semiconductor smuggling networks.
Neither Nvidia nor Super Micro immediately responded to requests for comment on the indictments, which were first reported by Reuters. Taiwan has tightened export controls in recent years to prevent advanced chip technology from reaching Beijing, according to AP News.
The case underscores the difficulty of enforcing chip export bans in a global supply chain where servers, components, and end-user documentation can be manipulated across multiple jurisdictions. Prosecutors said the defendants “damaged our nation’s international image” by undermining corporate compliance frameworks designed to meet international obligations.
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