China is one of the largest NVIDIA markets, especially for data centers, game and artificial intelligence applications.
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Two Chinese California nationals were arrested and accused of the illegal sending of tens of millions of dollars‘ For AI fleas, including from NvidiaTHE The Ministry of Justice said on Tuesday.
Chuan Geng, 28, and Shiwei Yang, 28, exported sensitive fleas and other technologies to China from October 2022 to July 2025 without obtaining the required licenses, said the MJ.
Illicit expeditions included the general H100 processing units in Nvidia, according to a criminal complaint provided to CNBC. The H100 is among the cutting edges of the American chip manufacturer used in artificial intelligence applications.
The Ministry of Commerce has placed these chips under export controls since 2022 as part of the wider efforts of the United States to restrict China access to the most advanced semiconductor technology.
This case shows that smuggling is a “non-start,” Nvidia told CNBC. “We mainly sell our products to well -known partners, including OEMs, which help us ensure that all sales are in accordance with the American export control rules.”
“Even exporters and relatively small shipments are subject to an in -depth examination and examination, and all diverted products would have no service, support or update,” added the flea manufacturer.
The company Geng and California of Yang, Alx Solutions, had been founded shortly after the first implementation of orders for American fleas.
According to the DoJ, the police have searched the Alx solutions office and seized telephones belonging to Geng and Yang, which revealed incriminating communications between defendants, including those that elected American export laws by sending china -sensitive fleas via Malaysia.
The examination also showed that in December 2024, the Alx solutions carried out more than 20 expeditions from the United States to navigation and freight companies in Singapore and Malaysia, which, according to the MJ, are commonly used as transhipment points to hide illegal shipments in China.
Alx solutions did not seem to have been paid by entities to which they would have exported goods to, instead of receiving many payments of companies based in Hong Kong and China.
The Office of Industry and Security of the United States Ministry of Commerce and the FBI continue to investigate the issue.
The smuggling of advanced microchips has become an increasing concern in Washington. According to a Financial Times report last monthAt least $ 1 billion in Nvidia chips entered China after Donald Trump tightened flea export controls earlier this year.
In response to the report, Nvidia had declared that the data centers built with smuggling fleas were a “loss proposal” and that it does not support unauthorized products.
