Taiwan prosecutors indict nine people suspected of illegally exporting AI servers to China

Taiwan's prosecutors said on Monday (August 24) that they have filed charges against nine people, including employees of Nvidia and Super Micro, who are accused of illegally exporting artificial intelligence servers to China. Taiwan is a semiconductor powerhouse and the world's largest producer of advanced chips for artificial intelligence applications. This year, Taiwanese prosecutors investigated suspected illegal exports of servers equipped with Nvidia's high-end chips, which are subject to US export controls. Since 2022, Washington has implemented relevant restrictions, making the export or sale of such semiconductors to China illegal. German-language media: No Taiwan, no artificial intelligence.

According to a press release issued by the Keelung District Prosecutors Office on Monday, the nine defendants are suspected of colluding internally and externally to evade controls and obtained 130 servers equipped with Nvidia B300 graphics processors. Among them, 74 units had already been directly or transshipped via a third location to mainland China, while another 56 units were intercepted before export. Prosecutors pointed out that the defendants were fully aware that both Nvidia and Super Micro have strict internal control procedures regarding exports. The statement also said that the defendants colluded at various levels for massive profits to illegally export high-end servers, which drove up corporate compliance costs and seriously damaged Taiwan's international image. Neither Nvidia nor Super Micro immediately responded to requests for comment.

In recent years, Taiwan has tightened export controls to prevent advanced technology and expertise from flowing into China. China claims the democratically governed island as its territory, a claim strongly opposed by the Taiwanese government.