The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has arrested two Chinese nationals and two Americans on suspicion of illegally exporting cutting-edge Nvidia chips containing artificial intelligence applications to China.
The two Chinese nationals are Cham Lee, 38, of California, and Jing Chen, 45, of Tampa, Florida, on an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa, the department said. The two Americans are Hong Ning-ho, 34, of Florida and Brian Curtis Raymond, 46, of Alabama. The four men are charged with conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act and money laundering. It was not immediately clear whether they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf.
Justice Department officials allege that the four conspired to illegally export advanced NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) to China through Malaysia and Thailand.
Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said in a statement that the defendants engaged in “a deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled Nvidia GPUs to China by falsifying documents, creating false contracts, and misleading U.S. authorities.”
According to the ministry, they allegedly received nearly $4 million from China to help finance their export plans.
The ministry said approximately 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs were exported to China in two shipments between October 2024 and January 2025, with two other shipments “not completed due to interference by law enforcement.”
The Justice Department said none of the defendants sought or obtained a license to export to China, despite knowing that a license was required.
The Justice Department said China is seeking cutting-edge technology from the United States to further its goal of becoming a world leader in AI by 2030.
Violation of the Export Control Reform Act and money laundering are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Nvidia Reported revenue of $31.9 billion This week, third-quarter revenue hit a record $57 billion.
