U.S. charges four in Nvidia chip-smuggling case, revives calls for chip tracking

U.S. prosecutors have charged four people with illegally exporting advanced Nvidia AI chips to China, a case that has intensified calls in Washington for tighter tracking of high-end semiconductors. The indictment alleges the defendants—two U.S. citizens and two Chinese nationals—used fake contracts, false paperwork and third-country routing to evade export controls.

Info via Reuters.

• According to the Justice Department, the group exported 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs to China via Malaysia between October 2024 and January 2025.
• Authorities also intercepted attempts to ship 10 HP supercomputers with H100 chips and 50 Nvidia H200 GPUs through Thailand.
• The scheme allegedly relied on a Tampa-based front company and nearly $4 million in Chinese wire transfers.

The case prompted House China Committee Chair John Moolenaar to urge swift passage of the bipartisan Chip Security Act, which would mandate chip-location verification and require manufacturers to report diversion risks. The incident highlights the difficulty the U.S. faces in enforcing export restrictions designed to curb China’s military and AI capabilities—policies Beijing condemns as economic coercion.

This from yesterday:

• White House wants Congress to oppose export-restrictions targeting Nvidia chips to China

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.