Amid the high-profile news about Trump's approval to export Nvidia's H200 chips to China , another report has emerged from the US Department of Justice about two Chinese men who have been smuggling H100 and H200 since 2023.
Amid the high-profile news about Trump's permission to export Nvidia's H200 chips to China , another report has emerged from the US Department of Justice about two Chinese men who have been smuggling H100 and H200 since 2023.
According to the Department of Justice, Fanyue Gong, 43, a Chinese citizen living in New York, and Benlin Yuan, 58, a Canadian citizen from China, conspired with employees of a Hong Kong logistics firm and a Chinese AI company to circumvent US export controls, Reuters reports .
Court documents say that Gong and his accomplices obtained Nvidia chips through fictitious buyers and intermediaries, and falsely claimed that the goods were intended for American customers or customers in third countries such as Taiwan and Thailand.
The chips were then sent to several warehouses in the US, where the Nvidia markings were removed and labels with the fake company's name were applied. The chips were then prepared for export.
Yuan was responsible for recruiting and coordinating individuals who were to inspect mislabeled chips on behalf of a logistics company from Hong Kong.
He also allegedly ordered inspectors to conceal information that the goods were headed to China, and he oversaw the creation of a cover that his company could use to release chips and equipment seized by federal authorities.
According to prosecutors, this scheme has been operating since at least November 2023.
Additionally, the Justice Department said that as part of the scheme, another man, 43-year-old Alan Hao Xu, and his company pleaded guilty in October to smuggling and illegal export activities.
The agency said Xu received more than $50 million from China to fund these operations. The total value of Nvidia chips exported or attempted to be exported under this scheme is at least $160 million.
