Taiwanese authorities have charged nine people, including employees of Nvidia and Supermicro, over an alleged scheme to illegally export high-end artificial intelligence servers to China.
Prosecutors in Keelung said eight of those charged, including one Nvidia employee and two employees of Supermicro’s Taiwan unit, face allegations including breach of trust and document forgery. Three others were charged with embezzlement.
According to prosecutors, some of the servers were transported through Indonesia and Japan, while others were shipped directly to China. Authorities also seized 56 additional servers at Taiwan’s border.
The case is significant because the United States has placed restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips and technology to China over concerns about their potential use in sensitive technologies.
Nvidia said its employees are expected to comply with all applicable laws and that it would cooperate with Taiwanese authorities to resolve the allegations.
Supermicro also said it had cooperated with the investigation and stressed that the company itself has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Taiwanese prosecutors said some of the suspects were motivated by large profits and are seeking prison sentences of up to five years for seven of them.
The investigation comes as Taiwan continues to tighten controls on the movement of advanced semiconductor technology to China.
