Kristina Roberts
Two men from China, both 28 years old and living in California, have been arrested for sending very powerful computer chips from the United States to China without permission. These chips were made by a well-known American company called Nvidia. The U.S. government says these chips are important for artificial intelligence (AI) and shouldn’t be sent out of the country without special licenses.
The names of the two men are Chuan Geng, who lives in Pasadena, and Shiwei Yang, who lives in El Monte. Both cities are located in California. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, they had been secretly exporting these chips and other advanced technology to China from October 2022 until July 2025. The Justice Department said they did all this without getting approval from the U.S. Commerce Department, which is the part of the government that controls exports.
Their company, called ALX Solutions, was started in 2022. Interestingly, this was the same year the U.S. made new rules to stop high-tech items from being sent to China. These rules were meant to protect American technology from being used by countries that might use it for military or harmful purposes. After the rules were made, it became illegal to send certain items like the Nvidia H100 chips to China without special government permission.
A federal agent who works with the U.S. Commerce Department explained more about what happened. He said that more than 20 shipments from ALX Solutions were sent to companies in Singapore and Malaysia. These countries are sometimes used as in-between stops, also called transshipment points, to secretly send goods to another place—in this case, China. It is believed that the chips were being sent to China through these countries to hide their true destination.
Even though the shipments were made to freight companies in places like Singapore and Malaysia, the payments for these shipments did not come from there. Instead, the money came directly from companies based in China and Hong Kong. For example, the affidavit says that in January 2024, ALX Solutions received a payment of one million dollars from a company located in China. They also got other payments from Chinese and Hong Kong businesses.
This pattern of behavior raised suspicion among government officials. They began to think that the two men were working around U.S. laws to help Chinese companies get access to technology they were not supposed to have. This is a big problem because chips like the Nvidia H100 are used in making very powerful AI systems. These AI systems can do things like analyze big amounts of data quickly, help create smarter weapons, or even break into other countries’ computer networks. Because of these reasons, the U.S. wants to keep tight control over who gets access to these chips.
A spokesperson for Nvidia, the company that makes these chips, said they had no comment on the matter. Nvidia is one of the world’s leading makers of AI chips and has been in the news often because of how important their products are to future technology.
The arrest of the two men is part of a larger effort by the United States to protect its technology from falling into the wrong hands. In recent years, the U.S. government has become more careful about how advanced technology is shared with other countries, especially China. There is growing concern that some countries might use American inventions in ways that are dangerous or against U.S. interests.
This is not the first time the U.S. has taken action like this. The government has already put rules in place to stop companies like Nvidia from selling certain high-end chips to China. They also check closely to see if businesses are following those rules. If someone is caught breaking them, the punishment can be very serious, including jail time.
In this case, the Justice Department believes that Geng and Yang were fully aware of the laws but chose to break them anyway. The evidence, including the large payments from Chinese companies and the use of shipping middlemen in other countries, shows a clear plan to avoid detection. These actions are considered very serious under U.S. law.
The court documents say the pair worked together through their company ALX Solutions to arrange these illegal shipments. Their arrest shows how the U.S. is watching closely and taking strong action against anyone who tries to send important technology to countries where it might be misused.
As the case goes to court, more details are likely to come out about how the operation worked and who else might have been involved. It also sends a message to others who might be thinking about doing the same thing—that the U.S. government is paying attention and will not tolerate breaking these kinds of laws.
This case is important not only because it involves technology, but also because it shows how seriously the U.S. is taking its fight to keep its most advanced inventions safe. It also adds to the growing tension between the U.S. and China, especially in areas like AI, military technology, and cybersecurity.
Many people are now watching closely to see what happens next. Will there be more arrests? Will this change how companies like Nvidia do business? Will countries like China find new ways to get around export rules? These questions remain unanswered, but the case has surely caught the world’s attention.
