{"slug": "man-charged-by-us-with-illegally-shipping-nvidia-chips-to-china", "title": "Man charged by US with illegally shipping Nvidia chips to China", "summary": "US federal prosecutors arrested Greg Lui, 38, owner of privately-held Earthmade Computer, on Oct 1 on charges of smuggling computer servers containing US$300 million worth of Nvidia AI chips to China without required US export licences between 2023 and 2024. The Justice Department said Lui faces one count each of conspiracy to violate US export controls, outbound smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering, and could face more than 20 years in prison if convicted; prosecutors cited a purchase order for 27 servers containing Nvidia H100 GPUs worth about US$7.6 million. First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said Lui \"allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than US$300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China.", "body_md": "# Man charged by US with illegally shipping Nvidia chips to China\n\nHe is said to have shipped servers containing restricted chips, without required US licences\n\nUS FEDERAL prosecutors arrested a California man on Thursday (Oct 1) on charges of smuggling computer servers containing US$300 million worth of Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to China in violation of [US export controls](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/us-takes-step-halt-nvidia-ai-chip-shipments-chinese-firms-outside-china).\n\nAuthorities said that Greg Lui, the owner of privately-held Earthmade Computer, worked with other unidentified co-conspirators from 2023 to 2024 to ship servers containing the restricted chips to buyers in China without the required US licences.\n\nThe charges against Lui mark the latest in a series of federal prosecutions of individuals accused of violating export controls aimed at keeping advanced US-made chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns.\n\nIn March, authorities [charged a co-founder of Super Micro Computer](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/telcos-media-tech/super-micro-co-founder-charged-sending-ai-tech-china) with illegally diverting billions of dollars in Nvidia chips to China. He pleaded not guilty.\n\nLui, 38, was expected to be arraigned later in the day, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.\n\nHe is facing one count each of conspiracy to violate US export controls, outbound smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the agency said.\n\nProsecutors argued in a court filing that Lui should be detained without bail because of a “serious risk” he would flee if released.\n\n“This defendant allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than US$300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China,” said First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli in Los Angeles.\n\n“We will aggressively prosecute those who put our national security at risk for profit.”\n\nThe Justice Department said that Lui and others exported the equipment initially to Malaysia and Singapore, jurisdictions that do not require licences for the purchases of advanced AI chips from US companies.\n\nThe servers were then shipped to the ultimate buyers in China, according to the agency.\n\nLui arranged for the sales of the servers knowing that the chips they contained were subject to US export curbs, the prosecutors alleged.\n\nAs part of the scheme, authorities said, Lui and his co-conspirators provided false documentation to US manufacturers that misrepresented the final destination of the products.\n\nIn one purchase order, Lui obtained 27 servers from an unidentified US manufacturer containing Nvidia H100 GPUs for approximately US$7.6 million, prosecutors said.\n\nThe charges were announced jointly by federal prosecutors, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees US export-control programmes.\n\nIf convicted of all the charges, Lui could face more than 20 years in prison, the Justice Department said.\n\nThe court docket did not provide information on lawyer representation for Lui. Nvidia representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. BLOOMBERG\n\nDecoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.\n\nShare with us your feedback on BT's products and services", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/man-charged-by-us-with-illegally-shipping-nvidia-chips-to-china", "canonical_source": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/man-charged-us-illegally-shipping-nvidia-chips-china", "published_at": "2026-10-02 01:15:38+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-02 01:45:19.410232+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-chips", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Greg Lui", "Earthmade Computer", "Nvidia", "US Department of Justice", "Federal Bureau of Investigation", "Bureau of Industry and Security", "Bill Essayli", "Super Micro Computer"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/man-charged-by-us-with-illegally-shipping-nvidia-chips-to-china", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/man-charged-by-us-with-illegally-shipping-nvidia-chips-to-china.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/man-charged-by-us-with-illegally-shipping-nvidia-chips-to-china.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/man-charged-by-us-with-illegally-shipping-nvidia-chips-to-china.jsonld"}}