Three individuals, Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, Ruei-Tsang Chang, and Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun, have been charged with conspiring to divert high-performance computer servers assembled in the US and integrating sophisticated US artificial intelligence technology to China. The scheme, which spanned from 2024 to 2025, allegedly generated billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains and posed a direct threat to US national security.
Liaw, a co-founder of a publicly traded US-based manufacturer, directed the company’s servers with certain GPUs to China without a license. Chang, a general manager at the company’s Taiwan office, worked closely with third-party brokers to divert servers. Sun, a Taiwanese citizen, acted as a “fixer” and coordinated with the others.
The scheme involved staging “dummy” servers to deceive the US manufacturer’s compliance team and conceal the diversion of servers with controlled AI technology. Surveillance cameras captured the defendants’ efforts, which included using encrypted messaging applications to coordinate with each other and end customers in China.
Liaw, Chang, and Sun face up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to violate export controls laws and smuggle goods from the US. The case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit and Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.
Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/three-charged-conspiring-unlawfully-divert-us-artificial-intelligence-technology-china