Super Micro Co-Founder Resigns After U.S. Indictment Over Alleged Nvidia Chip Smuggling
U.S. indictment alleges routing $2.5 billion in servers with Nvidia chips to China; Super Micro names acting compliance chief and places executives on leave.
CNBCSuper Micro co-founder indicted on Nvidia smuggling charges leaves board
New York PostSuper Micro shares plunge as US charges co-founder, two more for smuggling AI chips to China
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New York Post3 men charged with conspiring to smuggle AI to China
Overview
A U.S. indictment led to Yih-Shyan 'Wally' Liaw's arrest and resignation from Super Micro's board, authorities said.
Prosecutors allege about $2.5 billion in U.S. servers were diverted to China, including $510 million shipped between late April 2025 and mid-May 2025.
Super Micro placed Liaw and sales manager Ruei-Tsan 'Steven' Chang on leave, cut ties with contractor Ting-Wei 'Willy' Sun, and named DeAnna Luna acting chief compliance officer.
Analysts warned of 'enormous' revenue risk for Super Micro and said Dell could benefit, while investors flagged reputational and customer risks, market observers said.
Liaw was released on an unsecured bond with a bond hearing set for Wednesday; Sun faces a detention hearing Monday; Chang is at large, court papers show.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the case as a criminal evasion of U.S. export controls, foregrounding prosecutors' allegations, using terms like 'smuggling' and 'trafficked' and the $2.5 billion figure, and linking Nvidia export bans and company revenue in China. Editorial choices emphasize wrongdoing and policy risk while offering little company rebuttal or defendant perspective.
FAQ
U.S. prosecutors allege they routed $2.5 billion in servers with Nvidia chips to China via Taiwan and Southeast Asia using false documents, repackaged them in unmarked boxes, and used dummy non-working servers with altered labels to pass compliance checks.
