US arrests California man for allegedly smuggling $300m value of laptop servers to China | California

US authorities have arrested a person accused of smuggling greater than $300m value of laptop servers to China, the Department of Justice introduced.

Greg Lui, 38, of California, also referred to as “Yiu Kong Lui”, allegedly used false paperwork and shipments via third nations to smuggle the export-controlled laptop servers to China, the justice division mentioned in an announcement on Thursday.

The servers contained “US-manufactured graphics processing items (GPUs) generally used for Super Intelligence (SI)”, it added, utilizing the Trump administration’s new identify for artificial intelligence (AI).

“Protecting America’s nationwide safety means conserving our superior tremendous intelligence know-how from getting used to strengthen our adversaries’ navy capabilities,” the US legal professional for the central district of California, Bill Essayli, mentioned.

“We will aggressively prosecute those that put our nationwide safety in danger for revenue,” he added.

Lui operated a know-how firm known as Earthmade Computer, which he used to purchase and ship gadgets to China with out the licenses required by the US Department of Commerce from 2023 to 2024, based on the assertion.

The firm shipped the gadgets to nations together with Malaysia and Singapore, the place no such license is required, then illegally re-exported them to China.

If convicted, Lui might face a most of fifty years in jail.

China, lengthy seen as trailing the United States on cutting-edge AI, has been closing that hole quick.

The United States has lengthy tried to gradual China’s progress with export controls on the superior chips wanted for cutting-edge AI, blocking entry to top-end US semiconductors corresponding to these made by Nvidia.