US Charges California Executive Over $300 Million Nvidia Server Smuggling to China

Federal prosecutors on October 1 arrested a 38-year-old California man accused of smuggling servers containing Nvidia AI chips worth $300 million to China in violation of US export controls. The defendant, Greg Lui, owns privately held Earthmade Computer Inc. and is charged with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, outbound smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Justice Department put the value at more than $300 million and said the conduct ran from 2023 to 2024.

According to the Justice Department, Lui and co-conspirators gave false documentation to US-based manufacturers that misrepresented the end users, shipped the servers from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, and transshipped them through Malaysia and Singapore before re-exporting them to China. From January 2024 to October 2024, Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies. The release does not name a specific GPU model. The two conspiracy counts each carry up to 20 years; Lui is presumed innocent.

In a separate report with no stated link to Lui, Bloomberg said Semi-Tech Leasing Group, a Chinese financing company owned by several local government entities, funded Glory View Technology's purchase of more than 700 servers, with one contract covering 32 Asustek servers equipped with Nvidia B300 chips, according to filings with Beijing regulators. The Information also reported that a Chinese state-backed firm funded a purchase of Nvidia chips.

For NVDA, the cases add to reporting that its AI chips keep reaching China despite US curbs. Bloomberg has reported that officials are asking why the company missed red flags, while noting Nvidia has not been accused of violating controls and says it abides by the rules. Watch the court schedule and any official response to the leasing filings.