US DOJ Charges Super Micro Co-Founder with $2.5B China Chip Smuggling Scheme

The US Department of Justice charged Super Micro co-founder Yih-Shyan 'Wally' Liaw and two associates with conspiring to smuggle approximately $2.5 billion in advanced Nvidia AI servers — including B200 and H200 GPUs — to China in violation of export controls. The indictment described an elaborate scheme using Southeast Asian intermediaries, falsified end-user certificates, and physical concealment including removal of serial numbers with heat guns. Super Micro shares fell more than 33%, erasing over $6 billion in market capitalization. Liaw resigned from the board the following day. The case represented the most significant US export control enforcement action since the CHIPS Act era, highlighting systematic enforcement gaps in restricting advanced AI chips from reaching China.