Guilty Plea Entered
Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun, a third-party broker charged alongside Super Micro co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw and sales manager Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang for conspiring to unlawfully divert Nvidia AI chips to China, has pleaded guilty to the allegations. Sun’s plea is part of an agreement with prosecutors, with sentencing scheduled for September 8, 2027.
The Smuggling Operation
The case involves diverting Super Micro servers containing Nvidia chips to China. The individuals reportedly sent the hardware to a Southeast Asian company that faked paperwork and created dummy servers. Workers used hair dryers to remove serial numbers on real servers to transfer them into dummy shells, while the real units were routed to China via a Thailand-based corporation and delivered to Alibaba.
Company Response and Legal Fallout
Super Micro denied knowledge of the operation, though shareholders have filed lawsuits accusing the company of concealing its dependence on illicit sales. Liaw pleaded not guilty, was released on a $5 million bond, and faces trial on November 2, while Chang remains a fugitive.
International Investigations
Taiwanese authorities have also investigated the shipments, raiding offices and homes while Super Micro stated it cooperated with police. Taiwan subsequently indicted nine individuals involved in the illegal smuggling of Nvidia B300 GPUs.
Broader Crackdown
Sun’s guilty plea coincides with heightened U.S. enforcement actions against illegal AI chip exports, highlighting strict controls on advanced hardware transfers to China.
