Three Tied to Super Micro, OBON Indicted in Nvidia Chip Case

U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged three people tied to Super Micro Computer Inc. and a Thailand-based firm with funneling U.S.-origin servers containing restricted Nvidia chips through Taiwan and Thailand and into China. Prosecutors described the case as the largest AI chip smuggling case since the United States tightened export controls in 2022.

The indictment names Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, founder of Super Micro; Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang, a sales manager in Taiwan; and Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun, an external consultant. Prosecutors say the three worked with an unnamed Southeast Asian intermediary identified in the filing as OBON Corp. and with third-party brokers to re-route servers, pack them in unlabeled boxes and ship them to Chinese end users. The filing alleges more than $500 million in servers moved as part of a larger $2.5 billion arrangement.

The scheme was uncovered by the Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce, which enforces export controls on advanced semiconductors. Trade records and company audits cited by investigators show Super Micro paused shipments during an audit in October 2024, then resumed shipments that spiked in April and May 2025, when prosecutors say the alleged routing occurred.

Reports identify several Chinese buyers who received servers routed through OBON; Alibaba Group was named among those end users. Alibaba responded with a statement denying any involvement: “Alibaba does not have a business relationship with Super Micro, OBON, or other third-party brokers named in the indictment. We have nothing to do with the alleged illegal acts. We have not and will not use any Nvidia restricted chips in our data centers.” As of May 8, 2026, U.S. authorities had not charged OBON or Alibaba. The Justice Department and the Commerce Department declined further comment. The Commerce Department’s embargo on certain shipments to Thailand remains in place.

Super Micro has not been charged. The company said it opened an internal investigation, placed Liaw on administrative leave and that he later left the board. On an earnings call, Chief Executive Charles Liang described himself as “personally shocked and saddened” and said employees not named in the indictment were not involved in the alleged actions.

Nvidia highlighted partner compliance and cooperation with government authorities, noting in a statement that the company will continue to work with officials to ensure rules are followed and to support AI infrastructure.

OBON, identified in the indictment as “Company-1,” is based in Bangkok and raised its profile in 2024 when it launched Siam AI, billed as Thailand’s sovereign cloud initiative. OBON became a major purchaser of Super Micro servers and at one point ranked eleventh by profitability for the server maker. Investigators’ trade data show OBON’s imports of AI servers fell during the October 2024 halt and then surged in April and May 2025. Materials cited in the inquiry indicate that during a Super Micro audit visit to Thailand in August 2025, OBON paid off-site expenses for one auditor.

Ratanaphon Wongnapachant, founder and CEO of Siam AI and a former OBON CEO until at least May 2024, said he left OBON when he founded Siam AI and denied any link between the sovereign cloud company and the conduct alleged by U.S. authorities. He said Siam AI bought GPUs only for its own operations and became Nvidia’s first Cloud Partner in Thailand.

The indictment begins a criminal process in the Southern District of New York that will determine whether the individuals named and any associated entities are held criminally responsible under U.S. export laws.