Taiwanese prosecutors on Monday charged nine people, including one from Nvidia and two from Super Micro, for illegally exporting high-end AI servers to mainland China, intensifying the AI rivalry between China and the United States.
Details of the alleged smuggling operation
Prosecutors said the servers contained graphics processing units known as B300, which are banned from sale to China. Seventy-four servers successfully reached China: 50 were routed through Indonesia, 16 went directly to China, and eight were sent via Japan and then Hong Kong before arriving in mainland China.
Another attempt involving 56 servers failed, and those servers remain in Taiwan, according to the prosecutor's office.
Context of US-China AI competition
AI infrastructure, including advanced semiconductors mostly made in Taiwan, has become a key competitive area between the US and China. Washington began restricting Nvidia's exports of advanced chips to China in 2022 and tightened them in subsequent years. In April 2025, the US required licenses for exports of Nvidia's H20 chips to China before allowing some sales to resume later that year.
Under export controls, any sale by Nvidia of high-end AI servers—the computer infrastructure housing chips needed for AI systems—requires a strict review process, according to a document from Keelung District prosecutors' office in Taiwan. The document also stated that purchases of more than eight high-end AI servers require company staff to conduct on-site checks of clients.
Responses and legal proceedings
Patrick Rutherford, an Nvidia spokesperson, said in a written statement: "We will work with the Taiwan authorities to help them resolve the allegations as quickly as possible."
Super Micro said in a written statement that the arrests of two of its former employees were due to its cooperation with the Taiwanese authorities, and the company will continue to work to "enhance its robust export compliance program to protect American innovation."
Prosecutors are seeking maximum five-year sentences for four of the nine defendants, including Chang, an Nvidia manager identified only by his family name. Chang was the "key figure" responsible for "authorizing the release of the B300 GPUs" in this case but "demonstrated a clearly poor attitude following the offense," the document said.
Some defendants set up a company in Japan, which helped successfully transfer eight of the servers, prosecutors said. Others allegedly created fake websites and falsified information to evade export restrictions.
