Taiwan charges nine people for smuggling ‘high-end’ AI servers to China

Taiwan's prosecutors have charged nine individuals, including employees from Super Micro and Nvidia, for illegally exporting "high-end AI servers" to mainland China. The servers in question are graphics processing units called "B300" that have been banned for sale to China. Seventy-four servers successfully reached China, with 50 of them shipped through Indonesia, 16 delivered directly to China, and eight sent to Japan before reaching Hong Kong. Eight attempts to send 56 servers failed, and those remain in Taiwan.

The charges come at a time when the US-China AI rivalry has intensified. The US has imposed restrictions on Nvidia's exports of advanced chips to China since 2022, with tighter controls introduced later. In April 2025, the US required licenses for exports of Nvidia's H20 chips to China before resuming certain sales later that year. Under export controls, any sale of high-end AI servers by Nvidia necessitates a rigorous review process.

Nvidia's spokesperson expressed cooperation with Taiwanese authorities to resolve the allegations promptly. Super Micro stated that the arrests of two former employees were due to their cooperation with Taiwan's authorities and the company's commitment to strengthening its export compliance program to safeguard American innovation.

Prosecutors are seeking up to five-year sentences for four of the nine defendants, with Chang, an Nvidia manager, identified by his family name, being the key figure responsible for authorizing the release of the B300 GPUs. He also demonstrated a poor attitude following the offense. Some defendants allegedly established a company in Japan to facilitate the successful transfer of eight servers, while others created fake websites and falsified information to bypass export restrictions.