A technology company executive and two other people have been charged with violating American export laws to help China boost its artificial intelligence capacity.
Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang, and Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun, are charged with diverting “high-performance computer servers assembled in the United States and integrating sophisticated U.S. artificial intelligence technology to China,” according to a Department of Justice news release.
“Yih-Shyan Liaw, Ruei-Tsang Chang, and Ting-Wei Sun allegedly defrauded the United States by diverting hundreds of servers with advanced artificial intelligence capabilities to Chinese customers,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr of the New York Field Office said.
Liaw’s company, Supermicro, sent nearly $2.5 billion worth of advanced AI technology to China, including about $510 million worth of servers assembled in the United States between April and May of 2025, according to ABC News.
The DOJ said that Liaw and Chang working with a Southeast Asian company to place orders with Supermicro for another company.
The company that was supposedly the customer then sent the servers to China with the knowledge of the defendants.
False documents were prepared to mask the real end user. Dummy serves that were exact replicas of functioning ones were made for inspection at the company that had forwarded the working serves to China. Surveillance cameras eventually caught workers preparing the dummy servers.
“The indictment unsealed today details alleged efforts to evade U.S. export laws through false documents, staged dummy servers to mislead inspectors, and convoluted transshipment schemes, in order to obfuscate the true destination of restricted AI technology—China,” John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said.
“Controlling the export of sensitive U.S. artificial intelligence technology is essential to safeguarding our national security and defending the homeland,” Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said.
“That’s why combating export violations is among the FBI’s highest priorities, and we will continue working with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners to bring to justice all who take action to undermine U.S. national security.”
“Diversion schemes like those disrupted today generate billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains and pose a direct threat to U.S. national security,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said, adding that the scheme was carried out “through a tangled web of lies, obfuscation, and concealment.”
Liaw, 71, of Fremont, California; Chang, 53, of Taiwan; and Sun, 44, of Taiwan, were each charged with one count of conspiring to violate the Export Controls Reform Act, one count of conspiring to smuggle goods from the United States, and one count of conspiring to defraud the United States.
If found guilty on all charges, each could face up to 30 years in prison.
Supermicro, which is not named in the case, said it is cooperating fully with the government’s investigation, according to ABC News.
The company said Liaw and Chang have been put on administrative leave and that it had severed its connection with Sun, whom it identified as a contractor.
“The conduct by these individuals alleged in the indictment is a contravention of the Company’s policies and compliance controls, including efforts to circumvent applicable export control laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement.
“Supermicro maintains a robust compliance program and is committed to full adherence to all applicable U.S. export and re-export control laws and regulations.”
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