What Do We Know About The Super Micro Smuggling Case?
In March, the DOJ announced it had charged three people, including Super Micro co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, with one count of violating U.S. export control law, one count of conspiring to smuggle goods from the U.S. and one count of conspiring to defraud the U.S. The Justice Department alleged that the trio had conspired to illegally divert advanced servers assembled in the U.S. with sophisticated American AI chips to China. Liaw, who is a U.S. citizen, was one of the two people arrested. According to the prosecutors, the three men sold servers equipped with cutting-edge Nvidia AI chips—which are subject to export controls—to China through a Southeast Asian company. The alleged smuggling generated $2.5 billion in revenue for Super Micro. The server maker noted that it was not named as a defendant in the case and said the alleged conduct by the three individuals violated the company’s “policies and compliance controls.” The company also said it had placed Liaw and another staffer on administrative leave and severed ties with the contractor who was charged as part of the probe.
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Tangent
In a statement shared with Bloomberg, an unnamed Nvidia spokesperson said smuggling was a “nonstarter” for the company and the company sells its products to well-known partners to ensure compliance with export control rules. The spokesperson also said any diverted chips would receive “no service, support or updates.”
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