캘리포니아의 기술 회사 임원이 미국 수출 규제를 위반하여 3억 달러 규모의 Nvidia AI 칩을 중국으로 밀반출한 혐의로 체포됐다.

Greg Lui, 38, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, owner of Earthmade Computer Inc. in City of Industry, California, has been arrested and charged with orchestrating a scheme to smuggle more than $300 million worth of export-controlled computer servers containing advanced Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to China between 2023 and 2024.

Federal prosecutors allege that Lui and unidentified co-conspirators used the company to purchase restricted high-end servers and secretly route them to China without obtaining the export licenses required by U.S. law. According to an indictment returned on September 29, the alleged operation relied on third-country transshipments to conceal the servers' ultimate destination. Equipment was first sent to Malaysia and Singapore—jurisdictions where the specific U.S. licensing restrictions did not apply—before being re-exported to Chinese buyers.

Prosecutors accuse Lui and his co-conspirators of submitting false documentation to U.S. manufacturers, with paperwork identifying permissible end users and destinations despite the defendants' knowledge that the servers were ultimately intended for China. The servers contained high-end GPUs manufactured for advanced artificial intelligence and "Super Intelligence" applications, technology that U.S. authorities say can contribute significantly to the military capabilities of other nations.

In January 2024, Lui reportedly communicated with a co-conspirator about a Malaysian transshipment company seeking to purchase 70 servers equipped with export-restricted GPUs. Later that month, Lui allegedly submitted an order to a U.S. manufacturer for 27 servers valued at approximately $7.61 million, shipped from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur with packing lists identifying the servers as containing export-controlled GPUs. A month later, a co-conspirator informed a Malaysian government official that the 27 servers had been transshipped to a China-based buyer. From January through October 2024, Earthmade allegedly received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies in connection with the operation.

Lui has been charged with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and Export Administration Regulations, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all counts, he faces maximum prison terms of 20 years for export-control conspiracy, 20 years for money-laundering conspiracy, and 10 years for smuggling.

"This defendant allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. The case is being investigated by the FBI, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.