Taiwan charges 9 over illegal AI server exports to China, including Nvidia and Super Micro staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese prosecutors charged nine people Monday, including one from Nvidia and two from Super Micro, for illegally exporting “high-end AI servers” to mainland China, adding another wave of turbulence in the AI ​​rivalry between China and the United States.

AI infrastructure, including advanced semiconductors mostly made in Taiwan, has become a key point of competition between the U.S. and China. Washington began imposing restrictions on Nvidia’s exports of advanced chips to China in 2022 and tightened them in subsequent years. In April 2025, the U.S. required licenses for exports of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China, before allowing some sales to resume later that year.

Under export controls, any sale by Nvidia of high-end AI servers – the computer infrastructure that houses the chips needed to power AI systems – requires a strict review process, according to a document from Keelung District Prosecutors’ office in Taiwan. The document also said purchases of more than eight high-end AI servers require company staff to conduct on-site checks to the clients.

Prosecutors said the servers involved were graphics processing units known as “B300,” which have been banned from sale to China.

“We will work with the Taiwan authorities to help them resolve the allegations as quickly as possible,” Nvidia spokesperson Patrick Rutherford said in a written statement.

Super Micro said in a written statement that the arrests of two of its former employees were due to its cooperation with the Taiwanese authorities and the company will continue to work to “enhance its robust export compliance program to protect American innovation.”

Seventy-four servers arrived in China successfully, according to the prosecutors. Of those, 50 were sent through Indonesia, 16 delivered directly to China and eight sent to Japan first, then Hong Kong, before they landed in mainland China.

Another attempt involving 56 servers failed, and the servers remain in Taiwan, said the prosecutor’s office.

Prosecutors are seeking the maximum five-year sentences for four of the nine defendants, including Chang, an Nvidia manager identified just by his family name. Chang was the “key figure” responsible for “authorizing the release of the B300 GPUs” in this case but “demonstrated a clearly poor attitude following the offense,” the document said.

Some of the defendants set up a company in Japan, which helped successfully transfer eight of the servers, prosecutors said. Some allegedly created fake websites and falsified information to evade export restrictions.