Biggest heist of the US-China Chip War: 3 charged in $2.5bn scheme | Tech Radar

Overview

The biggest heist of the US-China Chip War: 3 Supermicro employees charged with conspiracy to smuggle restricted Nvidia H100, H200, and B200 chips to China – dummy boxes, fake labels, and a pass-through company enabled the $2.5 billion scheme

Three men are facing charges of conspiracy to smuggle restricted GPUs to China

Details

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Three men have been charged for exporting restricted AI chips to China

The men were employees of Super Micro Computer Inc.

The scheme amassed $2.5 billion in sales, circumventing restrictions on power AI GPUs

A federal investigation has been launched after the US Department of Justice charged three individuals for allegedly smuggling restricted Nvidia AI chips to China.

The three men were not named in court documents, however a statement released by Super Micro Computer Inc. identified those involved.

The smuggling allegedly occurred between 2024 and 2025, with billions of dollars worth of computer servers containing advanced Nvidia making the journey to China.

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Of the three men charged, two have been arrested. Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, a senior vice president and board member of Supermicro, was arrested in California, while Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun, a Supermicro contractor based in Taiwan, was also taken into custody. The third man, Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang, worked for Supermicro’s Taiwan office and is currently a fugitive.

Supermicro issued a statement on the arrest of the three men. “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 company said. “Supermicro maintains a robust compliance program and is committed to full adherence to all applicable U. S. export and re-export control laws and regulations.”

The smuggling scheme allegedly amassed

The Supermicro servers largely contained Nvidia H100 and H200 Tensor Core GPUs, which are specifically designed to train and handle large language models (LLMs).

The indictment further states that in order to keep China supplied with the latest technologies, Liaw allegedly pushed for Company-1 to place larger orders, including servers containing Nvidia’s B200 - one of the most advanced GPUs at the time.

The US has had restrictions on the types of GPUs companies are allowed to export to China since October 2022. The primary purpose of these restrictions was to maintain US superiority in AI development, while simultaneously preventing China from building powerful models that could be used for decryption, autonomous weapons systems, and cyberwarfare.

In order to police the enforcement of these restrictions, physical inspections took place to ensure servers weren’t being smuggled into China. However, the three individuals allegedly organized staged “dummy” servers packaged with Supermicro’s labels and boxes, while the original contents of those same boxes were already being shipped to China.

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As this case would attest, export restrictions are only as good as their physical inspections. While the indictment doesn’t explain the process of a physical inspection, it does state that an audit took place in August of 2025. However, the indictment further states that the individual tasked with conducting the audit was allegedly off-site enjoying entertainment paid for by Company-1.

In order to complete the audit, Sun allegedly sent photos and videos of the dummy servers, complete with their fake labels, to the auditor. The US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) later informed Supermicro that Company-1 was diverting its orders to China, and a second audit was scheduled. The second audit again involved dummy servers, and resulted in BIS placing a hold on Company-1’s shipments.

Since January 2026, the restrictions on the export of H200 chips to China has been lifted, but there are requirements that customers ensure “sufficient security procedures,” with approved exports being subjected to a 25% tax. However, B200 chips remain strictly banned.

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Benedict has been with Tech Radar Pro for over two years, and has specialized in writing about cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and B2B security solutions. His coverage explores the critical areas of national security, including state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, critical infrastructure, and social engineering.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, providing him with a strong academic foundation for his reporting on geopolitics, threat intelligence, and cyber-warfare.

Prior to his postgraduate studies, Benedict earned a BA in Politics with Journalism, providing him with the skills to translate complex political and security issues into comprehensible copy.

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Key Takeaways

• The biggest heist of the US-China Chip War: 3 Supermicro employees charged with conspiracy to smuggle restricted Nvidia H100, H200, and B200 chips to China – dummy boxes, fake labels, and a pass-through company enabled the $2

• Three men are facing charges of conspiracy to smuggle restricted GPUs to China

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• Three men have been charged for exporting restricted AI chips to China

• The men were employees of Super Micro Computer Inc