DOJ charges two in California over illegal exports of Nvidia AI chips to China | investingLive

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Chinese nationals with illegally exporting tens of millions of dollars’ worth of advanced AI chips, including Nvidia’s H100 processors, to China between October 2022 and July 2025.

• via a company called ALX Solutions out of California, founded shortly after U.S. export controls on high-end semiconductors took effect
• the firm allegedly circumvented U.S. restrictions by funneling shipments through Singapore and Malaysia, common transshipment hubs, before final delivery to China.

The chips in question include Nvidia’s H100 GPUs, which are tightly restricted under U.S. export rules due to their role in powering artificial intelligence systems.

The case comes amid rising concerns in Washington about unauthorized AI chip flows into China, with recent reports estimating that over $1 billion worth of restricted chips may have entered China despite tightened controls.