TAIPEI, May 22 — Taiwanese prosecutors are investigating three people for allegedly smuggling Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to China in violation of US export controls.

The three defendants are accused of forging documents so they could ship “high-end” AI servers containing advanced Nvidia chips to China, Macau and Hong Kong, the Keelung District Prosecutors Office said in a statement yesterday. 

The servers were made by US company Super Micro Computer.

Some the roughly 50 servers cleared Taiwan customs and left the island, a spokesman for the prosecutors office said today. 

The defendants, who were arrested on Wednesday, knew that the sale of AI servers was “strictly controlled” by the United States and “completely prohibited from being sold to the Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau regions”, the statement said.

Taiwan is a powerhouse in the manufacturing of semiconductors used to train and power AI systems, and is the home of chip production giants TSMC and Foxconn.

The spokesperson said it was too early to know if the case was linked to a Nvidia chip smuggling case involving Super Micro Computer employees in the United States.

A US indictment unsealed in March showed employees of the company allegedly raked in billions of dollars diverting Nvidia AI chips to China in breach of export controls. — AFP