Super Micro co-founder quits board after AI chip smuggling arrest
Yih-Shyan Liaw has left Super Micro’s board immediately after being arrested by the US Justice Department (DOJ), the company said on Friday. According to the company, his potential involvement in an AI chip-smuggling operation had nothing to do with his resignation.
Digital background depicting innovative technologies in (AI) artificial systems. MF3d/Getty.
Yih-Shyan Liaw has left Super Micro’s board immediately after being arrested by the US Justice Department (DOJ), the company said on Friday. According to the company, his potential involvement in an AI chip-smuggling operation had nothing to do with his resignation.
Yih-Shyan Liaw isn’t the only one facing charges. The DOJ is accusing Liaw, sales manager Ruei-Tsang Chang, and contractor Ting-Wei Sun of smuggling advanced AI chips to China, to which the US has banned exports of the technology since 2022.
The trio would allegedly send US-made servers through Taiwan to Southeast Asia, where they were repackaged and sent to China.
According to official reports, the accused claimed they tried to cover up the scheme by removing labels and serial numbers from real servers. Then they’d put them on dummy machines.
Liaw, who is a US citizen, and Sun, a Taiwanese citizen, were arrested on Thursday, while Chang is still wanted.
Liaw co-founded Super Micro in 1993 and joined the board in 2023. Chang worked in the company’s Taiwan office. Super Micro placed Liaw and Chang on leave and terminated Sun’s contract after learning of the charges.
The company said it is not a defendant and is cooperating with investigators.
According to Reuters, Super Micro’s shares rose 2% in after-hours trading, after falling more than 33% during the day.
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