Taiwanese prosecutors have charged nine individuals, including one from Nvidia and two from Super Micro, for allegedly smuggling ‘high-end AI servers’ to mainland China. The charges mark another development in the ongoing AI rivalry between China and the United States. The servers in question, known as B300 graphics processing units, have been banned from sale to China.
Prosecutors claim that 74 of these servers successfully arrived in China, with 50 being sent through Indonesia, 16 delivered directly to China, and eight sent to Japan first, then Hong Kong, before reaching mainland China. Another attempt to smuggle 56 servers failed, and the servers remain in Taiwan. The case highlights the intense competition between the US and China in the field of AI infrastructure, including advanced semiconductors primarily manufactured in Taiwan.
In 2022, the US began imposing restrictions on Nvidia’s exports of advanced chips to China, which were tightened in subsequent years. In April 2025, the US required licenses for exports of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China before allowing some sales to resume later that year. Under current export controls, any sale by Nvidia of high-end AI servers requires a strict review process.
Purchases of more than eight high-end AI servers necessitate on-site checks by company staff to verify the clients’ legitimacy. Nvidia and Super Micro have both issued statements expressing their cooperation with Taiwanese authorities and commitment to enhancing their export compliance programs. Prosecutors are seeking the maximum five-year sentences for four of the defendants, including Chang, an Nvidia manager who demonstrated a clearly poor attitude following the offense.
The case also involves allegations of creating fake websites and falsifying information to evade export restrictions. Some defendants allegedly set up a company in Japan to facilitate the transfer of eight servers to China. The charges come as tensions between the US and China continue to escalate in the field of AI technology.
The case is ongoing, with the defendants facing serious charges related to the alleged smuggling of high-end AI servers to China.
