This year we've seen a massive crackdown on AI tech shipments into China with mounting fears they might be powering the country's military. It's gotten to the point that high-end cards are being geotracked while the US continues to pressure ports like Malaysia to keep these rigs out of China's hands.
Now, the latest development in a Singaporean case around the United States' campaign to cease Nvidia shipments to China has just been put on hold. Reuters states the current big case looking into illegal shipments of Nvidia's AI powered silicon has just been adjourned until August 22. The hiatus is to give police more time to review evidence and potentially seek further responses. The case points to three defendants all linked by local media with accusations around the illicit movements of this tech.
The charges levelled against the three men were around making false representations to unnamed server suppliers about the end users of goods purchased in 2023 and 2024. Back in March this year Singapore Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam stated that the case was being investigated thanks to an anonymous tip. At the time it looked like Nvidia chips might be present in the shipments, pointing to a rather big no-no with the United States' current bans
The affected servers came from Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer, and were being sent to Singapore for a stop over before being forwarded on to Malaysia. It's unknown whether these shipments were terminating in Malaysia, or were intended for further transit onwards to China.
The case appears to be much larger than the three men mentioned above. A broader police investigation is currently being led into 22 individuals and companies all suspected of the same kind of fraud—the misrepresentation of shipments likely in the efforts to export these AI powered chips into China against North American wishes.
Singapore as a market accounts for a huge number of tech purchases every year. Last year it came second to the United States as Nvidia's biggest market, so it's no wonder such a high level of scrutiny is being levelled. That being said, while Singapore is a huge buyer, only 2 percent of the countries Nvidia purchases wind up with shipments there. Instead it's regularly used as a hub or invoicing for places all over the world, so while the purchasing is often done in Singapore, that doesn't mean any of this technology is passing through their shores.
Still, we'll likely find out more about this case in late August. Until then, the authorities have this opportunity to gather more evidence and chase leads to figure out whether this fraud has taken place, and to what level.
