Two Chinese nationals in California accused of illegally shipping Nvidia AI chips to China
LOS ANGELES: Two Chinese nationals in California were arrested and charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars' worth of AI chips to China, including Nvidia H100s, the US Justice Department said on Tuesday (Aug 5).
Chuan Geng, 28, of Pasadena, and Shiwei Yang, 28, of El Monte, exported the advanced Nvidia chips and other technology to China from October 2022 through July 2025 without obtaining the required licenses from the US Commerce Department, the Justice Department said, citing an affidavit filed with the complaint.
According to the affidavit, Geng and Yang's El Monte-based company, ALX Solutions, was founded in 2022, shortly after the US imposed sweeping export controls on technology to China and began to require licenses for the chips.
A spokesperson for Nvidia declined comment.
Over 20 shipments from ALX went to shipping and freight forwarding companies in Singapore and Malaysia, which are often used as transshipment points for illegal goods to China, a federal agent, who works for the US Commerce Department, said in the affidavit.
ALX received a US$1 million payment from a China-based company in January 2024 and other payments from companies in Hong Kong and China, not from the freight forwarding companies, the agent said.
Nvidia H100s are advanced chips that can be used to train large language models and for many other applications.
Records show that from at least August 2023 to July 2024, ALX Solutions bought over 200 Nvidia H100 chips from San Jose, California-based server maker Super Micro Computer, declaring that the customers were in Singapore and Japan, the agent said.
On one 2023 invoice valued at US$28,453,855, ALX declared to Super Micro the customer was in Singapore, but a US export control officer in Singapore could not verify the chips arrived in the country and the company named did not exist at the listed location, the document says.
Super Micro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to Nvidia's H100s, the pair is accused of illegally shipping Nvidia video graphics cards known as PNY GE Force RTX 4090, which also require a license for China.
Geng and Yang appeared in US District Court in Los Angeles late on Monday, according to the Justice Department. Geng, a permanent resident, was released on US$250,000 bond. Yang, who overstayed her visa, has a detention hearing on Aug 12.
Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
