Vier wegen angeblicher Verschwörung zum Schmuggel von Supercomputern und Nvidia-Chips nach China angeklagt

US authorities allege four people based in Florida, Alabama, and California conspired to illegally ship [supercomputers](https://www.wired.com/story/how-supercomputing-will-evolve-according-to-jack-dongarra-quantum-artificial-intelligence/) and hundreds of Nvidia GPUs to China as recently as July. The charges, which were [unsealed in federal court](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71932614/united-states-v-ho/) on Wednesday, are part of a wider government effort to crack down on the smuggling of advanced AI chips to China.

Over the past few years, the US has introduced a series of [export control rules](https://www.wired.com/story/2024-chips-export-controls-china/) designed to prevent Chinese organizations from acquiring computer chips that have become [popular for developing AI chatbots](https://www.wired.com/story/nvidia-third-quarter-2026-earnings/). The restrictions aim to slow China in what US officials have described as [a race to develop powerful AI systems](https://www.wired.com/story/stanford-study-global-artificial-intelligence-index/), including surveillance tools and [autonomous weapons](https://www.wired.com/story/ai-weapon-anduril-llms-drones/). Some Chinese companies have been forced to make do with older or less capable chips, but others have allegedly turned to smugglers.

The new [indictment](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.459978/gov.uscourts.cand.459978.1.0.pdf) alleges that Hon Ning Ho, Brian Curtis Raymond, Cham Li, and Jing Chen worked together to buy Nvidia chips through a sham real estate company in Florida and then resold them to Chinese companies. The hardware was allegedly shipped to China using doctored customs paperwork by way of Thailand and Malaysia, two countries that US regulators [have identified](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-04/us-plans-ai-chip-curbs-on-malaysia-thailand-over-china-concerns) as hot spots for chip smuggling.

Prosecutors allege that the defendants exported about 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs and attempted to smuggle about 50 of Nvidia’s newer chips, known as the H200. The defendants are also accused of trying to export about 10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise [supercomputers](https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-again-has-worlds-most-powerful-supercomputer/) containing Nvidia H100 chips.

Two undisclosed Chinese companies allegedly paid the defendants nearly $3.9 million in total for their efforts, according to the indictment, which was first reported by [Court Watch](https://x.com/SeamusHughes/status/1991499818318102642).

Read the full story here: [https://www.wired.com/story/smuggling-supercomputers-china-nvidia-indictment/](https://www.wired.com/story/smuggling-supercomputers-china-nvidia-indictment/)