“Box-swapping” scheme via Southeast Asia
Wally Lau, a director at Super Micro Computer (SMCI) who was indicted by New York prosecutors on charges of illegally exporting NVIDIA artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, has resigned. According to investigators, U.S.-made servers were routed through Taiwan and Southeast Asia, had their labels removed and were repackaged locally before being shipped into China. The revelation that Super Micro—a key NVIDIA partner—was used as a conduit for diverted AI hardware has raised broad concerns.
On March 22, SMCI said Lau had stepped down and that its board would operate with eight members. A company co-founder, Lau had served as a director and senior vice president of business development. Although he left the board, he remains a major shareholder, holding roughly $464 million in Super Micro stock (about KRW 699 billion).
Lau, a Chinese-American born in Fremont, California, is 71 years old.
Prosecutors allege he secretly diverted at least $510 million worth of AI servers to China from 2024 through last year (about KRW 760 billion). On March 19, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicted founder Liao, Steven Chang and Willy Sun on charges of violating U.S. export-control laws; the company has already terminated Chang and Sun.
Super Micro said it is fully cooperating with the government investigation and stressed that the conduct described in the indictment violated company policies and compliance guidelines.
Reports indicate Lau attended NVIDIA’s annual GTC developer conference last week.
On March 20, Super Micro’s shares plunged about 33% on the New York Stock Exchange after news of the alleged illicit diversion surfaced. Investment analysts warn the stock could fall further.
