The Nvidia employee who was smuggling chips into China
At the centre of the investigation are around fifty servers manufactured by Super Micro Computer and fitted with advanced chips from the Californian giant
Do you remember the case of the Nvidia chips that mysteriously (and illegally) ended up in China? After months of investigation, the case appears to be nearing a breakthrough, and it involves Nvidia itself. The Keelung District Prosecutor’s Office in Taiwan has, in fact, ordered the pre-trial detention of an employee of the Californian giant as part of the investigation into the alleged smuggling of artificial intelligence chips to China.
On 24 July, investigators searched the man’s home and his workstation at the company’s Taipei office, and the court subsequently granted the application for his detention on charges of forgery and breach of trust.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, which does not name Nvidia in its official statement, the suspect is strongly suspected of the offences with which he is charged, including the forgery of commercial documents, and there is a risk of him absconding, destroying evidence or colluding with accomplices or witnesses.
As is well known, the investigation was launched in May. At the heart of the matter are around fifty servers manufactured by Super Micro Computer and fitted with advanced Nvidia chips, which are alleged to have been shipped to China, Macau and Hong Kong using falsified documentation, in breach of US export controls.
Some shipments, which had cleared customs in Taiwan, are believed to have reached China via Japan. This triggered a series of investigations, and even led to a few arrests. Now, following the latest arrest of an Nvidia employee, the number of people in custody has risen to seven, including two employees of Super Micro and one from Albatron Technology, a company listed on the Taipei Stock Exchange.
