Taiwanese authorities raided Supermicro’s offices in Taiwan on June 29 as part of a widening investigation into the alleged smuggling of Nvidia AI chips into China. The operation targeted the company’s Taiwan office alongside six residences and three affiliated company sites.
Supermicro shares fell as much as 9.2% intraday following news of the raid.
What happened and why it matters
The Keelung District Prosecutors Office led the operation, which is part of a broader crackdown on the illegal transfer of advanced computing technology to China. The core allegation: Supermicro servers powered by restricted Nvidia chips were being illegally exported to the Chinese market, potentially circumventing US and Taiwanese export controls designed to limit Beijing’s access to cutting-edge AI hardware.
Back on May 28, a prior phase of the investigation resulted in three arrests and the seizure of 50 servers embedded with restricted Nvidia chips. Those chips were reportedly acquired under deceptive circumstances. Supermicro acknowledged at the time that it was cooperating with Taiwanese authorities.
