Taiwan conducts its first major crackdown on NVIDIA AI semiconductor smuggling, searching 12 locations and arresting three fugitives on charges of document forgery and false reporting.
Taiwan has reportedly detained three individuals for allegedly smuggling high-performance semiconductors into China, where exports are prohibited. This is said to be Taiwan's first major crackdown on semiconductor smuggling.
Taiwan Moves to Detain Three Over Nvidia AI Chip Smuggling to China - Bloomberg
Taiwan raids 12 locations in its first formal crackdown on Nvidia AI chip smuggling — hunts three fugitives for document forgery, fraudulent declarations in Super Micro smuggling case | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/servers/taiwan-raids-12-locations-in-its-first-formal-crackdown-on-nvidia-ai-chip-smuggling-hunts-three-fugitives-for-document-forgery-fraudulent-declarations-in-super-micro-smuggling-case
According to reports, the three people detained by Taiwanese authorities are suspected of forging documents to smuggle AI servers manufactured by the American company Supermicro into China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The scale of the crackdown itself is relatively small, with only about 50 servers reportedly involved, but the political and economic implications are said to be far greater.
According to prosecutors, the three suspects and other witnesses have already been arrested and are being questioned. Prosecutors have also issued search warrants at 12 locations across the country.
Previous investigations have revealed that China is sourcing servers equipped with NVIDIA semiconductors from resellers.
China was found to have acquired NVIDIA AI chips, which were supposed to be banned by the US, from Dell, Gigabyte, and Supermicro servers - GIGAZINE
U.S. prosecutors have indicted Supermicro co-founder and senior vice president Yi-Shan Worley Liau on suspicion of involvement in smuggling. According to reports, servers assembled in the U.S. were sent to a Supermicro facility in Taiwan, then delivered to a Thai company called 'OBON,' and finally forwarded to buyers in China through a third-party intermediary.
Taiwanese prosecutors have stated that the case involving the 50 servers is separate from the US investigation. Technology media outlet Tom's Hardware reported that 'the fact that Taiwanese authorities are attempting to detain those involved using local forgery and fraud laws indicates a major policy shift under the Lai Ching-te administration, which is under strong pressure from the US to protect the global AI supply chain.'
With major manufacturing and transit hubs like Taiwan and Singapore, in addition to the United States, beginning to actively crack down on smuggling, the semiconductor smuggling supply chain is being disrupted, and it is said that bringing prohibited chips into data centers in mainland China has become incomparably more difficult than before.
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in Hardware, Posted by log1p_kr