Super Micro Co-Founder Charged Over Alleged Illegal Diversion of AI Servers to China
The United States has tightened restrictions on exports of advanced AI chips and servers to China since 2022 to prevent cutting-edge computing power from being used for military and surveillance purposes. Super Micro, a major AI server partner of NVIDIA, has been drawn into the case through co-founder and former director Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, raising questions about supply-chain compliance, the effectiveness of export controls and corporate governance.
The U.S. Justice Department announced charges on March 19, 2026, alleging that Liaw, Ruei-Tsan “Steven” Chang and contractor Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun used a Southeast Asian company, falsified documents and dummy servers to divert at least $2.5 billion of equipment between 2024 and 2025. More than $510 million of that equipment flowed into China in April and May 2025. Liaw and Sun both pleaded not guilty on April 3. Super Micro was not named as a defendant, and its shares tumbled more than 9% at one point in after-hours trading following the news.
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The history behind this eventTaiwan Indicts Nvidia, Supermicro Employees Over AI Server Smuggling to China
Washington restricts exports and re-exports of advanced artificial-intelligence chips and servers to China, making compliance by Taiwan’s technology supply chain critical. Keelung prosecutors allege Fly Tiger Technology exploited its Nvidia-approved customer status and worked with Taiwan-based employees of Nvidia and Supermicro to conceal the ultimate Chinese buyers. False documents, sham server installations and misleading power-use records were allegedly used to pass vendor inspections, exposing weaknesses in end-user verification for controlled AI hardware.
The Keelung District Prosecutors Office indicted nine people on Aug. 24, 2026, alleging that 74 of 130 approved Supermicro servers fitted with Nvidia B300 chips reached China through Japan, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Prosecutors estimated illicit profit at about NT$670 million ($21.2 million). A Sept. 2 media report said participants later attended a celebration in Yokohama, while a Supermicro executive and an executive at Albatron Technology received bonuses of $60,000 and NT$6 million, respectively. The allegations have not been proven in court.
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