Super Micro contractor pleads guilty to four counts in alleged $2.5 billion China AI server scheme

A contractor tied to Super Micro Computer has admitted his part in a plan to ship servers loaded with restricted Nvidia AI chips to China.

Ting-Wei "Willy" Sun entered the plea Thursday, Oct. 8, in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. A court filing made public Friday showed he pleaded guilty to four counts: conspiracy to violate U.S. export controls, conspiracy to smuggle goods out of the country, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The case is before Judge Edgardo Ramos. Bloomberg reported that Sun's plea was part of a deal with prosecutors and that he will be sentenced in September 2027.

What the indictment alleges

Prosecutors charged Sun and two others in March. The indictment says they conspired to divert about $2.5 billion worth of U.S. AI technology to China without the required licenses. It dates the scheme to around October 2023.

The servers allegedly went first to a company in Southeast Asia, then on to Chinese customers. Prosecutors allege more than $510 million worth reached China in a three-week stretch from late April to mid-May 2025.

The indictment names Nvidia's B200, H100 and H200 chips, and servers containing them, as subject to U.S. restrictions.

It describes Sun as a broker and "fixer" who facilitated orders and helped hide what was happening. He allegedly helped stage "dummy" servers in December 2025. He also allegedly lied to a Commerce Department officer who inspected servers that had supposedly been kept in storage but had already gone to China. The indictment says serial numbers on the fake units were attached with a hair dryer.

FBI official James Barnacle said the defendants allegedly "fabricated documents, staged bogus equipment to pass audit inventories, and used a pass-through company" to conceal their activities.

The other defendants

Sun is the only defendant who has pleaded guilty so far. The allegations against the others remain unproven.

Liaw co-founded Super Micro in 1993 and joined its board in 2023. Bloomberg reported that he has pleaded not guilty and has left the board. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chang was a sales manager in Super Micro's Taiwan office. He has not appeared in court, and his lawyer could not immediately be reached. Sun's lawyer declined to comment.

Super Micro's position

Super Micro is not a defendant. The indictment refers to a U.S. manufacturer without naming it, and the company is widely believed to be that manufacturer.

Asked about the plea, Super Micro pointed to its earlier statements that it was not named as a defendant and that the case has had no impact on its business operations. It says it terminated Sun and cut ties with the other defendants earlier this year. In August, the company said its current senior leaders did not know about the alleged scheme and that it is working with investigators.

No charges have been filed against the company.

A wider pattern

The Super Micro case is not the only one. Prosecutors have separately charged Earthmade Computer CEO Greg Lui with allegedly smuggling another $300 million in Nvidia chips into China by similar routes. He has not been convicted.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has tried to close the gaps in the rules. Its May 2026 guidance says licensing requirements can apply to overseas buyers based on where their headquarters or ultimate parent company sits. An earlier BIS advisory flagged red flags: suspicious intermediaries, sudden jumps in orders, hidden ownership, and data centers without the infrastructure to use the hardware.

Washington has also loosened some rules. In January, BIS began case-by-case licensing for Nvidia's H200, AMD's MI325X and similar chips.

There is a real argument on the other side of the policy fight. A September analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies warned that falling sales in China would hurt U.S. chipmakers' revenue and their research budgets. It also noted that China is a key part of global semiconductor supply chains, which complicates enforcement.

The commercial pull is large. TrendForce projects AI-server shipments will grow almost 31% this year. It also projects capital spending by the nine biggest cloud providers will rise about 90%, to more than $886.7 billion.

What comes next

Sun's sentencing is expected in September 2027. Liaw's not-guilty plea means the case against a company co-founder is headed toward a contest. Chang has yet to appear in court.

Whether Sun's plea includes any commitment to cooperate with prosecutors has not been disclosed. Neither the Justice Department nor Sun's lawyer has said.