Two Charged in California AI Microchip Export Case

Two Chinese nationals, Chuan Geng and Shiwei Yang, were arrested in California for allegedly exporting tens of millions of dollars' worth of advanced microchips, including Nvidia H100 GPUs and PNY GeForce RTX 4090s, to China without U.S. export licenses. The alleged exports were made through their company, ALX Solutions Inc., which was established soon after new U.S. export controls on sensitive AI chips took effect. Authorities say shipments were routed through Singapore and Malaysia to hide their true destination, with payments coming from companies in China and Hong Kong. Geng, a lawful permanent resident, was released on $250,000 bond, while Yang, who overstayed her visa, remains in custody pending a detention hearing. If convicted under the Export Control Reform Act, both face up to 20 years in prison. The Justice Department highlighted the chips' potential use in military and advanced AI applications as a reason for strict export controls.