US charges Chinese nationals with illegally shipping Nvidia chips to China

Prosecutors accidental 2 men ‘knowingly and willfully’ utilized California-based institution to evade export controls connected AI chips.

Authorities successful the United States person charged 2 Chinese citizens with shipping tens of millions of dollars worthy of precocious Nvidia chips to China successful breach of export controls.

Chuan Geng and Shiwei Yang are alleged to person “knowingly and willfully” exported the graphic processing units (GPUs) utilized to powerfulness artificial quality without authorisation from October 2022 to July 2025, the US Department of Justice said connected Tuesday.

Export records bespeak that Geng and Yang, some 28, organised astatine slightest 21 shipments though their El Monte, California-based company ALX Solutions Inc to companies successful Singapore and Malaysia, the justness section said.

The exports included a December 2024 shipment of Nvidia H100 GPUs – described arsenic the astir almighty spot connected the marketplace – that was “falsely labelled” and had not obtained the indispensable licence from the US Commerce Department, the justness section said.

According to prosecutors, ALX Solutions received payments from firms successful Hong Kong and China, including a $1m sum from a China-based institution successful January 2024, alternatively than the companies that accepted the shipments.

Prosecutors alleged that a hunt of ALX Solutions’ bureau and Geng and Yang’s telephone past week had revealed “incriminating communications”, including communications astir shipping chips to China done Malaysia to evade US export reestrictions.

Geng and Yang face a maximum punishment of 20 years successful situation if convicted nether the Export Control Reform Act.

Al Jazeera could not instantly find the accused’s lawyers for comment.

Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia said the lawsuit showed that “smuggling is simply a nonstarter.”

“We chiefly merchantability our products to well-known partners, including OEMs, who assistance america guarantee that each income comply with US export power rules,” a institution spokesperson said.

“Even comparatively tiny exporters and shipments are taxable to thorough reappraisal and scrutiny, and immoderate diverted products would person nary service, support, oregon updates.”

The US authorities has banned the export connected the astir precocious chips to China amid a heated conflict for technological supremacy betwixt Washington and Beijing.

US officials person claimed that restrictions, galore of which were introduced nether erstwhile US President Joe Biden, are needed to safeguard nationalist security.

China, which has deed backmost with its ain export controls against the US, has accused Washington of undermining planetary commercialized and abusing its dominance successful tech.

Last month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced that Washington had agreed to reverse its prohibition connected the merchantability of its H20 GPU to China pursuing discussions with US President Donald Trump.

Huang said the lifting of the export prohibition connected the H20, which was specifically designed for the Chinese marketplace and is little almighty than the H100, would promote “nations worldwide to choose America.”