GoKawiilSmuggling case against NVIDIA chips widens with new arrest, Bloomberg reports
US prosecutors arrested Greg Lui for allegedly smuggling servers containing $300 million worth of NVIDIA AI chips to China, violating export controls, according to Bloomberg. The report also details an earlier case involving a red hair dryer used to strip serial numbers off NVIDIA server boxes, and describes new data centers in western China believed capable of housing 115,000 restricted NVIDIA processors.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The reporting suggests US export controls on AI chips may be increasingly circumvented through third countries like Thailand and Singapore, which former State Department official Daniel Remler says receive shipment volumes inconsistent with their own demand. Officials and critics cited by Bloomberg argue NVIDIA could be doing more to vet buyers, even though the company says it complies with the rules and has not been accused of aiding smuggling, which could intensify scrutiny of chipmakers' responsibility for downstream diversion.
- Greg Lui was charged with smuggling $300 million in NVIDIA chips to China via servers.
- Officials suspect western China data centers could hold over 115,000 restricted NVIDIA processors.
- Critics point to disproportionate chip shipments to Southeast Asian countries as a smuggling red flag.
Source: engadget.com — Steve Dent, 2026-10-02
Published there as: “NVIDIA's smuggling problem is getting worse”
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