Super Micro contractor pleads guilty in scheme to divert AI servers with Nvidia chips to China

A Super Micro contractor, Ting-Wei Willy Sun, has pleaded guilty to a scheme to illegally export computer servers with advanced Nvidia AI chips to China, according to a federal court filing. Sun entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Thursday. The charges include conspiracies to violate U.S. export controls, smuggle goods from the US, defraud the country, and obstruct justice.

The U.S. and China are in a fierce competition for AI dominance, investing billions in technology crucial for economic growth, national security, and military capabilities. Prosecutors charged Sun and two others, Yih-Shyan Wally Liaw and Ruei-Tsang Steven Chang, with conspiring to divert approximately $2.5 billion worth of U.S. AI technology to China in violation of export laws.

The scheme reportedly started around October 2023, with Sun and others conspiring to export servers from a U.S. manufacturer, likely Super Micro, to China without the required licenses. Super Micro terminated Sun and severed ties with the other defendants earlier this year. Sun is described as a broker and "fixer" who facilitated orders and concealed the scheme, including staging dummy servers and making false statements during an inspection.

Nvidia's B200, H100, and H200 graphics processing units, along with servers containing them, are subject to U.S. restrictions due to national security concerns.