Curtis Hernandez
Two employees at Super Micro's Taiwan unit are being held pending a court hearing after prosecutors there questioned them as part of an ongoing investigation into whether advanced Nvidia powered AI servers were illegally shipped to China. Two other workers questioned in the same sweep were released on bail.
At a Glance
- Four Super Micro Taiwan employees were questioned on June 29 by Taiwan's Keelung District Prosecutors' Office.
- Two remain detained pending a hearing; two were released on bail.
- Searches hit 12 locations, including homes of six suspects and offices of three companies: Super Micro Taiwan, Albatron Technology and Chief Telecom.
- Super Micro says it is not a target of the investigation and has cooperated with authorities for months.
- This follows a March case in which the U.S. Justice Department charged three people, including a Super Micro co founder, over an alleged $2.5 billion smuggling scheme.
What Investigators Are Looking Into
The case centers on servers built by Super Micro that run on Nvidia chips subject to U.S. export controls barring their sale to China. Taiwan's Keelung District Prosecutors' Office questioned six people this week over suspected document forgery and breach of trust, and four of them worked at Super Micro's Taiwan operation. Investigators searched a dozen locations total, hitting the homes of six suspects along with the offices of Super Micro Taiwan, distributor Albatron Technology, and data center operator Chief Telecom.
Super Micro Chief Revenue Officer Matthew Thauberger addressed the situation in a letter sent to customers in the United States. He confirmed the four employees were questioned on June 29 in connection with a Taiwanese inquiry into how the company's products ended up with a technology firm in Taiwan. Two of them are now detained awaiting a hearing, while the other two are out on bail.
Super Micro's Response
Thauberger was direct about where the company stands:
Eugene Castillo
Dean Porter
Douglas Turner