An Nvidia employee was detained in Taiwan in connection with a case involving the smuggling of AI chips to China
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Taiwanese law enforcement officials have detained an Nvidia employee as part of an investigation into the alleged smuggling of artificial intelligence chips to China in violation of U.S. restrictions, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. This may be the first known case in which law enforcement has taken action against an employee of Nvidia itself, the agency reports.
On July 24, investigators conducted searches at the employee’s home and at his workplace at the Nvidia office in Taipei, according to Bloomberg sources. A court subsequently granted prosecutors’ request to take him into custody on suspicion of document forgery and breach of trust. On Tuesday, July 28, the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office in Taiwan confirmed that the searches and arrest involved a man surnamed Chang. The office did not disclose his full name or name the company where he works.
An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg
This is one of at least eight investigations into the smuggling of Nvidia chips across four jurisdictions, Bloomberg noted. Several employees of Super Micro Computer—a seller of artificial intelligence equipment, including Nvidia processors—had previously been detained in Taiwan. Three people are accused of falsifying documents to export Super Micro servers equipped with Nvidia chips to China in violation of U.S. restrictions, Bloomberg reported. However, investigators have not yet charged any companies with the alleged violations, the agency explained.
Context
Washington has banned the export of most Nvidia AI chips to China without its approval, citing national security concerns. In May, during President Donald Trump’s visit to China, the U.S. authorized approximately ten Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com, to purchase Nvidia’s second-most-powerful AI chip, the H200. In July, The Information reported that China, for its part, also plans to allow the country’s leading AI companies to purchase a limited number of Nvidia H200 chips.
In the middle of the month, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler informed Congress that a “very small” shipment of H200 had been delivered to China and Hong Kong.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
