Federal agents have arrested a California tech executive accused of smuggling more than $300 million worth of Nvidia AI servers to China. Greg Lui, 38, was arrested on October 1.

Lui owns Earthmade Computer Inc., a server reseller based in the City of Industry, California. Prosecutors say he bought export-controlled servers loaded with Nvidia A100 and H100 chips from US manufacturers between 2023 and 2024.

The paperwork allegedly claimed the equipment was headed to Malaysia or Singapore, where no US licence is needed for those chips. From there, prosecutors say, the hardware was quietly re-routed to Chinese buyers.

One purchase order covered 27 servers with Nvidia H100 chips worth about $7.6 million. Between January and October 2024, Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping firms, according to the Justice Department.

Lui faces charges of conspiracy to violate export controls, outbound smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He could face more than 20 years in prison if convicted.