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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business
IBT Newsroom

How Supermicro Insiders Allegedly Used Fake Servers and Forged Paperwork to Smuggle Nvidia's Most Powerful AI Chips to China

A hair dryer was allegedly used by Supermicro-linked defendants to transfer serial number stickers between real Nvidia B200 servers and dummy shells, as part of a scheme to smuggle restricted AI chips to China in violation of U.S. export control laws.

The warehouse in Southeast Asia looked legitimate enough. Rows of servers sat in place, serial numbers visible, ready to be photographed and logged by a compliance auditor from Super Micro Computer Inc. The inspection, however, was a performance. The auditor was not actually conducting the review — he was, according to federal prosecutors, off-site enjoying entertainment paid for by the very company he was supposed to be scrutinizing.

The servers in that warehouse were props.

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