Taiwanese prosecutors have wrapped up their investigation into the smuggling of AI servers and indicted nine people for their roles in illegally exporting high-end Supermicro units packed with Nvidia chips to China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The case, handled by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office, marks Taiwan’s first formal criminal action centered on AI server smuggling through document forgery.
How the scheme unraveled
The investigation kicked off in May 2026 with the arrest of three initial suspects accused of forging shipping documents. Those documents were designed to obscure the true destination of Supermicro AI servers equipped with Nvidia’s chips, which are subject to strict US export restrictions aimed at keeping advanced computing power out of Chinese hands.
Major raids in late June and early July 2026 led to additional detentions, including employees from both Supermicro and Nvidia. Supermicro confirmed that four of its Taiwan-based staff members were questioned during the probe. The company stated it was not the target of the investigation and had cooperated fully with authorities. Supermicro also emphasized that the servers in question were originally sold through authorized resellers before any alleged diversion took place.
Approximately 50 servers valued at over $15 million were seized as part of the investigation.
The US connection
Taiwan’s investigation builds on a related US federal indictment from March 2026, in which three individuals connected to Supermicro were charged with conspiring to divert approximately $2.5 billion worth of Nvidia-powered servers to China.
The US has been steadily tightening its export controls on advanced semiconductors and AI hardware since late 2022, with successive rounds of restrictions targeting Nvidia’s most capable chips. The Keelung prosecutors’ focus on forgery as the criminal mechanism is notable: rather than trying to prove intent to violate export law, Taiwan zeroed in on the falsification of documents.