The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday charged four individuals over a scheme to unlawfully export Nvidia AI chips to China, spurring a senior House Republican to press for swift approval of a chip-tracking bill.
“China recognizes the superiority of American AI innovation and will do whatever it must to catch up,” said John Moolenaar, the chair of the U.S. House Select Committee on China. “That’s why the bipartisan Chip Security Act is urgently needed.”
The legislation, which Moolenaar introduced in May and has 30 cosponsors, would require location verification for chips, make it mandatory for chipmakers to report and share information about potential diversion, and look at additional ways to stop U.S. chips from ending up in the wrong hands.
Export Restrictions And Geopolitical Tensions
The case highlights the challenges Washington faces in enforcing its sweeping restrictions on high-tech exports to China, which are designed to hobble Beijing’s military development and keep the U.S. ahead on technology. China has criticized U.S. export curbs as part of a campaign to weaponize economic and trade issues.
Details of the Indictment
U.S. Department of Justice indicted two Americans and two Chinese nationals for conspiring to export Nvidia GPUs to China using fake contracts and documents routed through third countries.
The indictment says 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs were shipped to China via Malaysia, while U.S. authorities blocked attempts to send 10 HP supercomputers with H100 GPUs and 50 H200 GPUs through Thailand.
In the Florida case, the conspiracy included the use of a Tampa company as a front to purchase and export chips, and nearly $4 million in wire transfers from China to fund the scheme, the Justice Department said.
A lawyer for one defendant declined to comment and a lawyer for a second defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The other defendants could not immediately be reached.
(With inputs from Reuters)
