Post #6357

❗️Chip smuggling scandal hits AI supply chain Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, co-founder of Super Micro Computer, has been arrested over an alleged multi-billion-dollar scheme involving illegal exports of Nvidia hardware to China. What allegedly happened: • Accused of orchestrating the smuggling of $2.5B worth of Nvidia servers • Used a Southeast Asian shell company to reroute shipments to Chinese buyers • $510M in hardware moved in just THREE WEEKS (spring 2025) • Built thousands of “dummy” servers to bypass U.S. export controls How it was uncovered: • Surveillance reportedly caught serial number swaps using a hair dryer • Operations coordinated encrypted group chats • Scheme designed to evade U.S. compliance audits at scale Market + legal fallout: • SMCI stock dropped 12% after hours • Liaw personally holds $464M in SMCI shares • Faces up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted AI chips are now strategic assets and this case shows how far players may go to move them across borders. @aipost🏴