Taiwan raids Super Micro offices in Nvidia AI chip smuggling probe
Taiwanese prosecutors raided Super Micro $SMCI on Monday in a widening probe into about 50 servers carrying Nvidia $NVDA AI chips allegedly smuggled to China through forged export papers. Investigators searched a dozen sites tied to a scheme valued near $2.5 billion. Shares fell
Taiwanese prosecutors raided the offices of Super Micro Computer $SMCI on Monday as an investigation into the alleged smuggling of Nvidia $NVDA artificial-intelligence chips into China widened. The Keelung District Prosecutors Office said it searched roughly a dozen locations, including the homes of six people and two affiliated firms, data-center operator Chief Telecom and Super Micro distributor Albatron Technology. Investigators are tracing about 50 high-end servers fitted with Nvidia AI accelerators that were allegedly routed to China, Hong Kong and Macau using forged customs paperwork and shell companies, in defiance of US export controls. Prosecutors put the value of the scheme at around $2.5 billion. The raids follow a May bust in which three suspects were arrested on similar allegations, and they come months after US prosecutors charged three Super Micro employees in a related case. What makes this notable is where enforcement is now landing. For two years the chip-smuggling story has played out mostly in US courtrooms and Commerce Department rules. Monday's action shows Taiwan, the heart of the advanced-chip supply chain, actively policing the flow of restricted hardware on its own soil. Super Micro shares fell as much as 8% after the news.