Two Chinese nationals have been arrested in California and charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars’ worth of high-tech AI chips to China, including some of Nvidia’s most powerful models. The Department of Justice announced the arrests on Tuesday, highlighting the growing effort to stop the illegal flow of sensitive U.S. technology.
According to the criminal complaint, Chuan Geng and Shiwei Yang used their California-based company, ALX Solutions, to export the chips from October 2022 to July 2025 without the required licenses. Among the smuggled items were Nvidia’s H100 chips, one of the company’s most advanced processors used for artificial intelligence, which have been under strict U.S. export controls since 2022.
The DOJ says law enforcement searched the company’s office and found incriminating messages on the defendants’ phones. These messages allegedly showed them discussing how to evade U.S. laws by routing the shipments through Malaysia to conceal their final destination in China. Investigators also found that ALX Solutions was being paid by companies in Hong Kong and China, not by the companies in Singapore and Malaysia they were supposedly shipping to.
This case shows that even small exporters are under intense scrutiny. In a statement, Nvidia said that smuggling is a “nonstarter” and that any smuggled chips would not receive any service or support.
Geng and Yang are now facing a felony charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Yang was also found to be living in the U.S. illegally.
