Computer servers with export-restricted artificial intelligence chips were allegedly headed to China from a California company, prosecutors claimed.
A Chinese national and two American citizens have been charged with conspiring to smuggle restricted artificial intelligence chips into China through Thailand, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on March 25.
Federal prosecutors say the three defendants allegedly sought to buy export-controlled computer chips worth millions of dollars from a California-based computer hardware company for shipment without getting export licenses.
“The smuggling of advanced technology like these computer chips represents a direct threat to U.S. national security,” said Peter Ellis, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office. “The individuals charged in this case attempted to bypass U.S. export laws to send sensitive technology to adversaries.”
Stanley Yi Zheng, 56, of Hong Kong, was arrested on March 22, and was being held in federal custody without bail pending trial.
Matthew Kelly, 49, of Hopewell Junction, New York, and Tommy Shad English, 53, of Atlanta, surrendered to authorities on March 25. They were scheduled for their initial appearances in court later in the day.
Jason Sargenski, special agent in charge of the Department of War Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, southeast field office, said protecting sensitive defense technology from foreign adversaries is a top priority.
“Advanced computing technologies, like Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), play a critical role in military artificial intelligence and national defense capabilities,” Sargenski said in a statement. “When individuals attempt to illegally acquire or export this technology for profit, they are putting national security and our warfighters at risk.”
Federal authorities allege that Zheng, Kelly, and English began conspiring together in about May 2023, when they illegally tried to obtain computer servers with export-controlled computer chips from a California-based computer hardware company and ship them to Thailand with an ultimate destination in China.
The three allegedly used the names of Thailand-based companies as the purchasers of the computer servers, even though the servers were intended to be diverted to China, according to federal authorities.
