四人因涉嫌合谋向中国走私超级计算机及英伟达芯片遭起诉
内容来源：https://www.wired.com/story/smuggling-supercomputers-china-nvidia-indictment/
内容总结：
美国司法部近日对四名涉嫌非法向中国走私高端人工智能芯片的嫌疑人提出刑事指控，涉案金额高达390万美元。这起案件是美国政府打击对华先进技术走私的最新行动。
根据加州奥克兰联邦法院周三解封的起诉书，居住在佛罗里达州、阿拉巴马州和加州的何浩宁、布莱恩·柯蒂斯·雷蒙德、李灿和陈静被指控通过佛罗里达州一家空壳房地产公司，采购英伟达公司生产的先进计算芯片，并伪造海关文件经泰国、马来西亚转运至中国。
检方指控该团伙走私约400块英伟达A100图形处理器（GPU），并试图走私50块最新款H200芯片及10台惠普企业超级计算机。这些被美国列为出口管制物资的芯片可被用于军事、监控、网络攻击和虚假信息传播等领域。
联邦检察官诺亚·斯特恩在法庭听证会上指出，此案涉及"极其严重的违法行为"，涉案芯片在当时是"英伟达最先进的产品"。执法部门已于周三逮捕四名嫌疑人，其中主犯何浩宁与陈静、李灿仍在押，雷蒙德已获保释。
调查发现，任职于硬件分销公司的李灿曾在通讯中炫耀其父亲"曾为中国共产党从事类似业务"，并明确知晓相关芯片受出口管制。李灿在问讯中承认了部分涉案事实。目前所有被告均面临违反出口管制法的指控，最高可判处20年监禁。
此案反映出美国持续收紧对华尖端AI芯片出口管制的态势。去年以来，美国商务部已考虑将泰国、马来西亚等转运枢纽纳入限制范围，以遏制技术走私渠道。
在周四的听证会上，由于李灿在加州圣莱安德罗拥有房产等资产，法官要求其聘请私人律师。鉴于其持有美国绿卡和香港公民身份，法院将于下周就是否继续羁押举行听证。李灿的临时辩护人称其正准备与美国籍未婚妻结婚，"有强烈意愿留在美国"。
（注：本案涉及人员姓名均为音译）
中文翻译：
美国司法部披露，四名分别居住在佛罗里达州、阿拉巴马州和加利福尼亚州的嫌疑人涉嫌合谋非法向中国运输超级计算机及数百枚英伟达GPU芯片，最近一次作案发生在今年7月。周三联邦法院解封的起诉书显示，该案是美国政府打击对华走私先进AI芯片行动的重要一环。
过去数年，美国陆续出台出口管制法规，旨在阻止中国机构获取研发AI聊天机器人所需的高性能芯片。美方官员称这些限制措施是为了延缓中国开发强大AI系统（包括监控工具和自主武器）的进程。部分中国企业被迫使用性能落后的芯片，而另一些企业则被指控转向走私渠道获取芯片。
最新起诉书指控何浩宁、布莱恩·柯蒂斯·雷蒙德、李灿和陈静通过佛罗里达州一家虚假房地产公司收购英伟达芯片，并转售给中国企业。据称该团伙使用伪造海关文件，经由泰国和马来西亚两条被美国监管机构标记为芯片走私热点的线路将硬件运往中国。
检方指出，被告实际走私约400枚英伟达A100 GPU芯片，并企图走私约50枚新型号H200芯片。他们还被指控试图出口10台搭载英伟达H100芯片的惠普企业超级计算机。根据法院观察网首次披露的起诉书，两家未具名的中国公司向被告支付总计约390万美元。
"这是极其严重的罪行。这些芯片被出口时是英伟达最先进的产品。"联邦检察官诺亚·斯特恩周四在加州奥克兰法庭向地方法官坎迪斯·韦斯特莫尔陈述时强调，这些半导体可能被中国政府用于军事、监控、虚假信息和网络安全领域。
斯特恩透露四名被告已于周三被捕。据称主谋何浩宁与陈静、李灿均已被羁押，而经营英伟达芯片转售公司的雷蒙德获保释。佛罗里达州坦帕市美国检察官办公室发言人艾米·菲尔琼斯证实雷蒙德已取保候审。
检察官当庭展示了李灿的通讯记录，其中提及其父"曾为中国共产党从事类似业务"。作为硬件分销公司职员，李灿通过分享的新闻报道知晓这些芯片受出口管制，但声称其父"有特殊渠道进口"。斯特恩指出李灿在周三接受问讯时"承认了多项对其不利的事实"。
被告面临违反出口管制法的多项指控，最高可能面临20年监禁。记者通过领英联系何浩宁与雷蒙德未获回应，陈静和李灿的公设辩护人拒绝置评。
| 线索征集 |
|---|
| 如果您掌握出口管制或芯片走私相关信息，请通过非工作设备在Signal联系记者@peard33.24。 |
英伟达发言人约翰·里佐发布声明称："即使是二手市场的老旧产品交易也需经过严格审查，通过走私产品拼凑数据中心在技术和经济层面均不可行。"雷蒙德曾咨询的AI云计算公司Corvex表示已撤销其全职录用通知，并申明与涉案行为无关。
今年早些时候，美国商务部据称正考虑限制向马来西亚和泰国出口高端芯片以遏制走私，但相关法规尚未落地。商务部未立即回应置评请求。
韦斯特莫尔法官责令李灿必须聘请私人律师，因其在加州圣莱安德罗拥有房产及其他资产，不符合公设辩护人申请条件。鉴于李灿持有美国绿卡和香港公民身份，法院将于周二举行听证会评估其逃亡风险。庭审中身着黑色防风衣、戴眼镜穿凉鞋的李灿对部分陈述点头示意但未发言。其临时公设辩护人凯特琳·弗莱泽克称当事人正筹备与美国公民未婚妻结婚："留在美国完成婚礼才是他的真正诉求。"
英文来源：
| US authorities allege four people based in Florida, Alabama, and California conspired to illegally ship supercomputers and hundreds of Nvidia GPUs to China as recently as July. The charges, which were unsealed in federal court on Wednesday, are part of a wider government effort to crack down on the smuggling of advanced AI chips to China. Over the past few years, the US has introduced a series of export control rules designed to prevent Chinese organizations from acquiring computer chips that have become popular for developing AI chatbots. The restrictions aim to slow China in what US officials have described as a race to develop powerful AI systems, including surveillance tools and autonomous weapons. Some Chinese companies have been forced to make do with older or less capable chips, but others have allegedly turned to smugglers. The new indictment alleges that Hon Ning Ho, Brian Curtis Raymond, Cham Li, and Jing Chen worked together to buy Nvidia chips through a sham real estate company in Florida and then resold them to Chinese companies. The hardware was allegedly shipped to China using doctored customs paperwork by way of Thailand and Malaysia, two countries that US regulators have identified as hot spots for chip smuggling. Prosecutors allege that the defendants exported about 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs and attempted to smuggle about 50 of Nvidia’s newer chips, known as the H200. The defendants are also accused of trying to export about 10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputers containing Nvidia H100 chips. Two undisclosed Chinese companies allegedly paid the defendants nearly $3.9 million in total for their efforts, according to the indictment, which was first reported by Court Watch. “This is an extremely serious offense. At the time these were being exported, these were Nvidia’s most advanced chips,” federal prosecutor Noah Stern told magistrate judge Kandis Westmore in an Oakland, California, courtroom on Thursday. Stern explained that the semiconductors could be used by the Chinese government in military, surveillance, disinformation, and cybersecurity applications. Stern said that authorities arrested the four defendants on Wednesday. He said that Ho, whom he described as the ringleader, is now in custody along with Chen and Li. Raymond, who ran a company reselling Nvidia chips, is not being detained, Stern said. Amy Filjones, a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Tampa, Florida, said Raymond has been released on bond. Stern said text messages obtained by authorities show Li boasting about how his father “had engaged in similar business on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.” Stern alleged the messages also show Li, who works at a hardware distribution company, was aware through news articles he shared that the Nvidia chips were subject to export controls. “He explained that his father had ways to import them,” Stern said, again citing Li’s text messages. Stern told the court that Li “did admit to various facts” during questioning by federal agents on Wednesday that implicated him. The defendants face various charges related to violating export control laws and up to 20 years in prison. Ho and Raymond did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent to LinkedIn accounts purportedly belonging to them. Public defenders for Chen and Li declined to comment. |
Got a Tip? |
|---|---|
| Do you have information about export controls or chip smuggling? We'd like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact the reporter securely on Signal at @peard33.24. |
Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo said in a statement that “even small sales of older generation products on the secondary market are subject to strict scrutiny and review” and that “trying to cobble together datacenters from smuggled products is a nonstarter, both technically and economically.”
Corvex, an AI cloud computing business Raymond consulted for, said in a statement that it had rescinded a job offer for him to join the company full-time and that it had no connection to the alleged wrongdoing.
Earlier this year, the US Department of Commerce was reportedly considering restricting the sale of advanced chips to Malaysia and Thailand in an effort to curb chip smuggling, but the regulations have yet to be finalized. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Magistrate Judge Westmore ordered Li to hire an attorney because she said he had significant equity in a San Leandro, California, home and other assets, making him ineligible for a public defender. The magistrate also set a hearing for Tuesday to decide whether Li is a significant flight risk and should continue to be detained. He holds a US green card and Hong Kong citizenship.
Li, wearing glasses, flipflops, and a black windbreaker, nodded in response to some of Westmore’s statements but did not speak. Kaitlyn Fryzek, his temporary public defender, said Li is planning to marry a US citizen. “His incentive is to stay and get married to his fiancée,” Fryzek said.