"China recognises the superiority of American AI innovation and will do whatever it must to catch up," said John Moolenaar, the chair of the US House Select Committee on China. "That's why the bipartisan Chip Security Act is urgently needed."
The legislation, which Moolenaar introduced in May and has 30 co-sponsors, would require location verification for chips, make it mandatory for chipmakers to report and share information about potential diversion, and look at additional ways to stop US chips from ending up in the wrong hands.
The case highlights the challenges Washington faces in enforcing its sweeping restrictions on high-tech exports to China, which are designed to hobble Beijing's military development and keep the US ahead on technology. China has criticised US export curbs as part of a campaign to weaponise economic and trade issues.
The indictment, which the US Department of Justice announced on Thursday, charges two US citizens and two Chinese nationals with conspiring to export Nvidia GPUs to China without required licences.
The defendants allegedly created fake contracts and provided false documentation to ship the chips to third countries, knowing they were destined for China.
They then exported 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs to China through Malaysia between October 2024 and January 2025, according to the indictment.
Law enforcement stopped attempts to export 10 Hewlett-Packard supercomputers with Nvidia H100 GPUs and 50 separate Nvidia H200 GPUs through Thailand, the US Department of Justice said.
In the Florida case, the conspiracy included the use of a Tampa company as a front to purchase and export chips, and nearly $US4 million in wire transfers from China to fund the scheme, the Justice Department said.
A lawyer for one defendant declined to comment and a lawyer for a second defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The other defendants could not immediately be reached.
