A California man faces criminal charges for illegally shipping Nvidia chips to China.

Federal prosecutors arrested California businessman Greg Lui, 38, owner of privately held Earthmade Computer Inc., on charges of smuggling computer servers containing $300 million worth of Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to China in violation of US export controls. According to authorities, Lui worked with unidentified co-conspirators from 2023 to 2024 to ship servers containing restricted chips to buyers in China without required US licenses.

Lui is facing one count each of conspiracy to violate US export controls, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors have argued for his detention without bail, citing a serious risk he would flee if released.

The scheme involved exporting equipment initially to Malaysia and Singapore—jurisdictions that do not require licenses for purchases of advanced AI chips from US companies—before the servers were shipped to ultimate buyers in China. Lui allegedly arranged the sales knowing the chips were subject to US export restrictions, while providing false documentation to US manufacturers that misrepresented the final destination of the products. The alleged conspiracy continued until at least mid-August.

In one transaction, Lui obtained 27 servers containing Nvidia H100 GPUs from an unidentified US manufacturer for approximately $7.6 million. First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli stated: "This defendant allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China. We will aggressively prosecute those who put our national security at risk for profit."

This prosecution is the latest in a series of federal cases targeting violations of export controls designed to prevent advanced US-made chips from reaching China on national security grounds. In March, authorities charged a co-founder of Super Micro Computer Inc. with illegally diverting billions of dollars in Nvidia chips to China; he pleaded not guilty.

If convicted on all counts, Lui faces more than 20 years in prison. Nvidia stated: "This case shows yet again that smuggling is a losing proposition—legally, economically and technically. Our work with law enforcement has led to prosecutions, and we will continue to engage with law enforcement." The charges were announced jointly by federal prosecutors, the FBI, and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.