Singaporean authorities have charged three people with fraud in cases allegedly linked to the possible smuggling of NVIDIA chips into China. According to a Channel News Asia report, investigators are linking the case to probes into whether China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence startup managed to access NVIDIA chips, despite the export controls mandated by the US government. For those unaware, US law prevents the legal sale of the tech giant’s advanced AI chips to Chinese companies without a license.
Three persons charged the authorities with misrepresenting the end destination of NVIDIA chips
According to the CNA, Singaporean police and customs authorities arrested nine people in a raid across more than 20 locations on Wednesday. They also charged three persons in connection with misrepresenting the end destination of NVIDIA chips, reports the publication. Two of the trio charged with “criminal conspiracy to commit fraud” are nationals of Singapore. One of the individuals charged with “committing fraud on a supplier of servers by fraudulently making false representations” is a national of China.
Furthermore, the report states that the Chinese national whom Singaporean authorities charged claimed that a company called “Luxuriate Your Life” was the end-user of the NVIDIA chips in question. However, the authorities say that it was a “false representation”. Media reports suggested that intermediaries in Singapore illegally moved NVIDIA chips to China. They were bypassing US export controls, which led to the raids.
Washington officials are scrutinizing Singapore’s role as a transshipment hub for advanced chips
After the massive success of Chinese startup DeepSeek and its ability to offer advanced AI models as powerful as those manufactured by US developers, Washington officials are scrutinizing Singapore’s role as a transshipment hub for advanced semiconductors. Notably, NVIDIA’s revenue in Singapore is growing much faster than in all other locations across the globe.
NVIDIA’s Singaporean revenue increased by 10 times in just two years. It has risen from $2.3 billion in the 2023 fiscal year to $23.7 billion in its most recent fiscal year, ending this January. The rapid increase in revenue has sparked questions about how many of NVIDIA’s chips destined for customers are based in Singapore.
Singaporean authorities say that they don’t condone businesses using the city to bypass export controls imposed by other countries. US officials are currently reportedly probing if DeepSeek circumvented the country’s export controls by purchasing advanced NVIDIA AI chips through other parties in Singapore. We expect more details on the matter to emerge soon, so stay tuned for regular updates.
2025-03-02 15:05:30