Taiwan indicts nine over alleged illegal export of AI servers to China

Taiwan ​prosecutors said on Monday they ​indicted nine people, including ‌employees of ​Nvidia and Super Micro, accused of illegal export of artificial intelligence servers to China.

Semiconductor ‌powerhouse Taiwan is the world's largest producer of advanced chips used in AI applications. Prosecutors this year investigated the suspected illegal export of ‌servers equipped with Nvidia chips subject to U.S. export controls. Washington ‌has imposed curbs since 2022 making it illegal for such semiconductors to be exported or sold in China.

In a statement, the prosecutors in the ⁠northern port ​city of Keelung ⁠said the defendants, whose full names they did not state, were "fully aware" that ⁠both Nvidia and Super Micro have "rigorous internal control procedures" regarding exports. However, ​the defendants "colluded with one another at various levels for enormous ⁠profit, illegally exporting high-end servers, increasing corporate compliance costs, and severely damaging our nation's ⁠international ​image", they added.

Neither Nvidia nor Super Micro immediately responded to requests for comment. Taiwan has tightened export controls in recent ⁠years to keep advanced technology and know-how from reaching China, which claims the ⁠democratically ⁠governed island as its own territory despite the strong objections of the island's government.