AI-Linked Nvidia Chip Smuggling Plot Uncovered in US
Four individuals, including a CTO-designate, have been charged with illegally exporting Nvidia AI GPUs to China via Southeast Asia, in defiance of US export law.
Four men have been indicted for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to smuggle advanced Nvidia GPUs—including A100, H100, and H200 chips—from the United States to China via Malaysia and Thailand, circumventing export controls designed to restrict AI and supercomputing technology.
What We Know
The Department of Justice unsealed charges on November 20, 2025, against four U.S. residents who allegedly transported Nvidia GPUs to the People’s Republic of China without required export licenses by falsifying shipping documentation and routing through third-party countries. The defendants include Hon Ning Ho, aka Mathew Ho, of Florida; Brian Curtis Raymond, an Alabama-based Nvidia distributor and CTO-designate for Virginia AI firm Corvex; Cham Li of California; and Jing Chen of Florida.
The indictment details that between October 2024 and January 2025, two shipments successfully delivered 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs to China. Two additional shipments—intended to carry ten Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputers with H100 GPUs and 50 Nvidia H200 GPUs—were thwarted by law enforcement. None of the shipments had the required Commerce Department licenses.
The scheme allegedly involved a front company, Janford Realtor LLC, tied to Ho and Li, which falsely pretended to engage in real estate transactions but was used to conceal chip exports. Prosecutors say the conspirators received nearly $3.9 million in wire transfers from Chinese entities. All four face conspiracy, smuggling, money laundering, and export law violations, with potential sentences up to 20 years per count.
What It Means
The case underscores the U.S. government's continued effort to stem the unauthorized outflow of sensitive AI chip technology—particularly amid growing concern over China's ambitions toward AI supremacy and military modernization. Nvidia GPUs like the A100, H100, and H200 are among the most powerful compute accelerators, central to breakthroughs in AI and supercomputing.
Brian Raymond's involvement, especially as a recently announced CTO for Corvex, highlights risks posed by industry insiders and official channels used to circumvent export compliance. The revocation of his appointment by Corvex indicates companies’ heightened sensitivity to regulatory and reputational fallout.
The Backstory
Since the Biden administration enacted stricter export controls on high-end AI chips in October 2022, developers have faced new licensing burdens to ship to China. Smuggling attempts such as this raise alarms about illicit supply chains and enforcement gaps. Nvidia’s CEO has publicly criticized the curbs as driving Chinese self-sufficiency efforts, citing a decline in U.S. firm market share in China.
What’s Next
The defendants await federal trial, with forfeiture of seized GPUs also sought by the government. The case may spur tighter scrutiny of GPU distribution networks and prompt both private sector compliance reforms and possible technological tracking measures. Prosecutors’ focus on financial flows and shell entities signals a broader strategy targeting export control circumvention.
