A trio linked with a US technology supplier have been charged over a ploy to smuggle American artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.

The individuals allegedly "conspired to sell billions of dollars'" worth of technology to buyers in China by faking documents and using dummy equipment to slip past audits, according to the DOJ.

The goods in question included Nvidia-made semiconductors, highly coveted AI chips which are subject to export controls.

In August 2025, two Chinese nationals were also arrested and charged with illegally shipping millions of dollars' worth of Nvidia chips to China.

The DOJ said in a statement on Thursday that it had arrested US-citizen Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw and Taiwanese citizen Ting-Wei "Willy" Sun, while Ruei-Tsang "Steven" Chang, a Taiwanese citizen, remains a fugitive.

Liaw is the co-founder of California-based Super Micro Computer, a publicly traded firm that builds servers and supplies tech equipment for clients.

In a statement on Thursday, Super Micro said it was cooperating fully with the investigation and noted that the firm was not named as a defendant in the case - though it confirmed that the three individuals were associated with the company.

Super Micro said it had placed Liaw, the firm's Senior Vice President of Business Development, and Chang, a sales manager, on leave. It also said it had terminated ties with Sun, who was a contractor.

"The conduct by these individuals alleged in the indictment is a contravention of the company's policies and compliance controls, including efforts to circumvent applicable export control laws and regulations," the firm said.

Neither court documents nor the DOJ named Super Micro as the trio's employers. Court documents said only that they worked for the same US manufacturer, and that that manufacturer worked with high-end computer chips, including those designed by Nvidia.

Nvidia's semiconductors are highly regarded in the AI industry, with most of its advanced chips subject to US export controls that block their sale to China without a license, due to national security and foreign policy concerns.

A spokesperson for Nvidia told the BBC the firm works closely with its customers and the government on compliance programs.

"Unlawful diversion of controlled US computers to China is a losing proposition across the board," said the spokesperson. "Nvidia does not provide any service or support for such systems, and the enforcement mechanisms are rigorous and effective."

The US government, which initially sought to stop Beijing from obtaining Nvidia's advanced processors, said in December that they would allow the company to export some of its chips to China.

The DOJ alleged that the trio devised a plan with an unnamed South East Asia-based firm to divert US-made chips to brokers in China who were in close contact with Liaw and Chang.

The unnamed firm, referred to by the DOJ as Company-1, would allegedly place orders for servers, some of which contained Nvidia chips. Company-1 and the trio would then allegedly fabricate records to make it appear as though Company-1 was the intended user.

But instead, Company-1 would repackage the servers with the help of a separate logistics firm and conceal them in unmarked boxes before shipping them to China, the DOJ said.

The trio allegedly used thousands of "dummy" replica servers designed to resemble the US-purchased machines to slip past audits, while the real servers had already been illegally shipped, said the DOJ.

The department said Sun, the contractor, would use hair dryers to remove and stick labels and serial number tags to the server boxes and dummy servers, which were captured on surveillance cameras.

Company-1 is believed to have bought around $2.5bn (£1.86bn) worth of equipment and sent "massive quantities of servers with controlled US artificial intelligence technology" to China, said the DOJ.

The department said that at no point did the defendants or the US manufacturer have a licence from the government to export American-made servers to China.

In a separate case, two Chinese nationals were arrested and charged over illegally smuggling restricted AI chips to China.

The two allegedly sent goods from the US to shipping firms in Malaysia and Singapore between 2022 and 2025, before diverting them to companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Their company, ALX Solutions, allegedly told their supplier, Super Micro, that the ordered chips were for a Singapore-based customer. (BBC)

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