The US Department of Justice has arrested 38-year-old Greg Lui, CEO of Earthmade Computer, accused of smuggling over $300 million worth of export-controlled Nvidia chips into China. Lui allegedly used false paperwork to mask shipments of servers containing A100 and H100 GPUs, routing them through Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong to a Chinese firm in Hangzhou, described as China's AI hub. Federal prosecutors allege Lui forged documents, including using a fake buyer with a CEO named 'Jackie Lui' for a 2024 shipment of 100 servers worth over $22 million.
The DOJ claims Lui's firm received more than $176 million from the scheme, with payment records from Bank of America and JP Morgan supporting the allegations. Lui faces charges including conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling, and money laundering, carrying up to 20 years in prison. Nvidia disputed that it ignored red flags, with a spokesperson telling Bloomberg that 'less than one half of one percent' of its products have allegedly been diverted to China, calling it a 'drop in the bucket' compared to China's domestic compute capabilities.
The arrest follows a similar investigation involving a Nvidia senior manager in Taiwan linked to a smuggling scheme allegedly run by ex-Supermicro staff.
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing