Taiwan detains Super Micro staff in widening Nvidia chip smuggling probe

Taiwan’s Keelung District Court on July 1, 2026 ordered the detention of three people in a widening investigation into the alleged smuggling of advanced Nvidia chips to China. The three include a Super Micro Computer Taiwan manager surnamed Wang, an employee surnamed Lin and an Albatron Technology vice president surnamed Lu.

The detentions escalate one of the most concrete enforcement actions to date against the illicit trade in restricted AI accelerators, which US export controls bar from reaching China.

Prosecutors allege the suspects falsified paperwork to route roughly 50 Super Micro servers loaded with Nvidia GB300 chips to Chinese buyers, according to the Keelung District Prosecutors Office. Investigators seized about NT$9 million in cash. The office raided 12 locations on June 30 – six private residences plus offices of Super Micro’s Taiwan unit, Albatron Technology and Chief Telecom – and the number of people under investigation has grown from three to nine. Two Chief Telecom employees were released on bail of NT$100,000 and NT$50,000 with a travel ban.

Super Micro shares fell roughly 8% on the reports. The company has not publicly addressed the detentions, and prosecutors have named the detainees only by surname; none has been charged, and detention in Taiwan is a pre-trial measure, not a finding of guilt.

The case follows a March 2026 US indictment that charged Super Micro co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw and two others with diverting about $2.5 billion of Nvidia-equipped servers to China. Together, the two actions point to sustained scrutiny of the San Jose server maker’s supply chain across two jurisdictions.

Whether Taiwan prosecutors bring formal charges, or the probe stalls at the detention stage, will show how aggressively Taipei intends to police the diversion of Nvidia hardware bound for China.