Jensen Huang urges Super Micro compliance

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said on Saturday that Super Micro Computer should strengthen compliance after Taiwan moved this week against three people accused of using false paperwork to export AI servers containing Nvidia technology to China. Huang’s remarks, made after he arrived in Taipei, followed a Taiwan prosecutors’ case that authorities and media reports described as the island’s first semiconductor-smuggling crackdown. Bloomberg first reported Huang’s comments on May 23, and a Bloomberg social post on X had flagged the exchange a day earlier. Taiwanese prosecutors said on May 21 they were investigating three people suspected of illegally exporting high-end AI servers made by Super Micro and containing Nvidia chips subject to U.S. export controls. Reuters reported the suspects were accused of using false export declarations to send the systems to China, Hong Kong and Macau. (bloomberg.com) ### What exactly did Huang say in Taipei? Jensen Huang told reporters in Taipei on May 23 that he hoped Super Micro would “tighten up on compliance,” according to Bloomberg and other reports that carried the comments. Bloomberg reported Huang also said Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners. Saturday’s comments put Nvidia’s chief executive directly on a case involving one of the company’s closest server partners. (money.usnews.com) Super Micro assembles Nvidia AI chips into server systems used in data centers for training and running artificial-intelligence models. ### What are Taiwan authorities alleging? Taiwan prosecutors said three people conspired to buy the servers in Taiwan and then used false documents in export declarations to move them to China, according to Reuters and ABC’s pickup of the wire report. (bloomberg.com) The servers were described as high-performance AI systems made by San Jose, California-based Super Micro. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported Taiwanese officials were seeking to detain three individuals for forging documents in order to export Nvidia AI chips to China. The report said the allegations involved fraudulent declarations about AI servers manufactured by Super Micro. ### How does this connect to the U.S. case from March? The U.S. Justice Department said on March 19 that an indictment had been unsealed charging Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang and Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun with conspiring to divert high-performance computer servers integrating U.S. (money.usnews.com) AI technology to China in violation of export-control laws. The department said the servers were assembled in the United States. (bloomberg.com) Reuters reported on May 21 that the Taiwan probe followed that earlier U.S. case. The March indictment alleged at least $2.5 billion of U.S. AI technology was smuggled via Taiwan to China, and Liaw was identified as a Super Micro co-founder. ### What has Super Micro said publicly? Super Micro said on March 19 that it had been informed that three individuals associated with the company were indicted in connection with an alleged conspiracy to commit export-control violations, and that the company itself was not named as a defendant. (justice.gov) The company later said Liaw had resigned from the board and that DeAnna Luna had been appointed acting chief compliance officer. (money.usnews.com) On April 7, Super Micro said an independent investigation overseen by independent directors and outside counsel Munger, Tolles & Olson was underway. The company said again that it was not named as a defendant and was not accused of wrongdoing. ### Why is Taiwan’s move drawing attention now? Bloomberg said the Taiwan action marked the island’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, a step that came after Washington tightened restrictions on exports of advanced chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. (ir.supermicro.com) The case has drawn attention because Taiwan is central to the hardware supply chain for AI servers and chip systems. (ir.supermicro.com) The next concrete milestone is Super Micro’s internal probe. The company said in April that the investigation remained under way, while the U.S. criminal case announced on March 19 and the Taiwan prosecutors’ case disclosed on May 21 continue to move forward. (ir.supermicro.com) (bloomberg.com)