US Arrests CEO in $300 Million Nvidia Chip Smuggling Scheme
AI-generated image · US National Wire
Greg Lui allegedly used fraudulent paperwork and Southeast Asian intermediaries to divert export-controlled GPUs to China.
The U.S. government has arrested 38-year-old Greg Lui, CEO of Earthmade Computer, for allegedly smuggling more than $300 million in high-end Nvidia hardware into China. According to reporting from Ars Technica and The Register, the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges Lui orchestrated a scheme from October 2023 to at least August 12, 2026, using false documentation to mask shipments of servers containing A100 and H100 GPUs, as well as GeForce RTX 4090 and 5090 chips.
FBI indictments detailed how Lui allegedly conspired with freight-forwarding firms in Singapore and Malaysia to bypass U.S. export controls. In one instance, 27 servers worth approximately $7.6 million were claimed as destined for Malaysia but were allegedly shipped to China. Another shipment of 92 servers was routed from San Francisco to Kuala Lumpur and then to Hong Kong, eventually reaching a firm in Hangzhou, which The Wall Street Journal has identified as China's AI hub. To deceive officials, Lui allegedly used stolen identity documents and created a fake buyer, Topmost, with a supposed CEO named "Jackie Lui."
Payment records from JP Morgan and Bank of America allegedly show Lui's firm received over $176 million from the operation. Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director at the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, stated that Lui allegedly sold "hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of American Super Intelligence technology" to the Chinese government. John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, noted that protecting these chips is vital to maintaining the American advantage in AI.
Nvidia has downplayed the impact, telling Bloomberg that diverted products represent "less than one half of one percent" of its total. However, a Bloomberg investigation suggests a sprawling shadow trade of hundreds of thousands of chips is powering Chinese data centers. Lui faces charges including money laundering and violations of the Export Control Reform Act, with a maximum potential sentence of 50 years.