Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang publicly called on Super Micro Computer to tighten export compliance controls, following a $2.5 billion smuggling indictment and new Taiwanese enforcement actions against unauthorized AI chip shipments to China.
Export compliance under scrutiny
Speaking at Songshan Airport in Taipei, Huang emphasized that Nvidia requires all partners to adhere to U.S. trade regulations. “We insist our partners are compliant. We hope that they will enhance and improve their regulation compliance and prevent that from happening in the future,” he told reporters. The remarks come months after U.S. federal prosecutors charged Supermicro co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw and two others with conspiring to smuggle approximately $2.5 billion worth of Nvidia-equipped servers to China through Southeast Asian shell companies. Liaw has pleaded not guilty; Supermicro has stated it is not a named defendant and is cooperating with the investigation.
Taiwan launches formal enforcement
Days before Huang’s statement, Taiwan initiated its first formal crackdown on illicit AI hardware exports. The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office announced that three suspects had submitted fraudulent shipping declarations to export Super Micro servers containing Nvidia AI chips to China, Hong Kong, and Macau. This case is separate from the U.S. prosecution but underscores growing regulatory pressure on supply chains for advanced semiconductors.
China market access remains uncertain
Huang confirmed that China is part of the $200 billion addressable market he projected for Nvidia’s upcoming Vera CPU. The H200 chip has received licensing approval for export to China, and roughly ten Chinese firms have been cleared to purchase it. However, not a single H200 has been delivered to a Chinese customer, and recent talks between President Trump and President Xi produced no breakthrough on Nvidia chip sales. “The Chinese market is very important. It’s very large, of course,” Huang said, though actual shipments remain stalled.
Forward outlook
Huang is in Taipei for Nvidia’s GTC Taipei event and his Computex keynote on June 1, where he is expected to detail the Vera Rubin platform’s software stack. He described the platform as “the largest product launch, probably in the history of Taiwan,” noting each Vera Rubin NVL72 system contains nearly two million parts and involves roughly 150 Taiwanese ecosystem partners. The convergence of heightened export enforcement, unresolved market access, and a massive product launch cycle will test Nvidia’s ability to balance compliance obligations with global revenue ambitions.
