Singaporean authorities have arrested three men for smuggling high-performance Nvidia chips to China. This comes hot on the heels of news detailing Chinese buyers obtaining Nvidia’s coveted Blackwell AI chips.
Just before Joe Biden left the office of the President, he had enacted laws banning the export of AI chips to China. The reason behind this is two-fold:
- The U.S. wants to remain No. 1 in AI development.
- The U.S government wants China deprived of infrastructure that could lead to security threats.
Who Are the Suspects?
Channel News Asia reported that the arrested men include two Singaporeans and one Chinese citizen. These men are currently facing fraud charges linked to high-end servers. The servers, made by Dell and Supermicro, may have contained restricted Nvidia chips.
Officials suspect they were diverted from Malaysia to another location. There are also reports of Singaporean authorities investigating where the servers actually ended up.
Why Everyone Wants Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs
Nvidia, a leader in AI chip manufacturing, remains in the spotlight due to U.S. sanctions. These sanctions aim to stop China from obtaining its most powerful processors. Still, reports suggest Chinese merchants are already ordering Nvidia’s upcoming Blackwell GPUs.
These chips are essential for AI development, an area where China wants to stay competitive. Governments worldwide are stepping up enforcement to stop illegal shipments, and the Singapore arrests show how serious authorities are about cracking down on smuggling.
Singapore’s Key Role in the Tech Supply Chain
Singapore is a major network point in the global semiconductor industry. Nvidia’s latest annual report shows the company sells to Singapore and the country accounted for 18% of its fiscal year 2025 revenue. However, actual shipments to Singapore made up less than 2% of sales. This suggests that much of the revenue comes from regional distribution.
