Shyan "Wally" Liaw, Ruei-Tsang "Steven" Chang, and Ting-Wei "Willy" Sun have been charged with conspiring to divert high-performance computer servers from the U.S. to China, incorporating sophisticated American artificial intelligence technology in violation of U.S. export control laws. Liaw, a U.S. citizen, and Sun, a citizen of Taiwan, were arrested and will be presented in the Northern District of California, while Chang, also a citizen of Taiwan, remains a fugitive.
The indictment alleges a scheme involving false documents, dummy servers, and convoluted transshipment to mislead inspectors and obscure the true destination of the restricted AI technology—China, according to John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
The FBI's investigation revealed that the trio conspired to sell billions of dollars' worth of servers with controlled graphic processing units to buyers in China, violating U.S. export control laws, said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York described the defendants' actions as diverting servers with advanced AI capabilities to Chinese customers through deception and concealment, generating billions in ill-gotten gains and posing a direct threat to U.S. national security.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. of the New York Field Office stated that the defendants defrauded the U.S. by diverting servers with advanced AI capabilities to Chinese customers through fabricated documents, bogus equipment staging, and concealment.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has license requirements for exporting AI technologies to China, restricting items that could contribute significantly to military potential or nuclear proliferation, or be detrimental to national security. Advanced AI accelerator chips and servers incorporating such chips require export licenses for transfers to China and Hong Kong.
Liaw, Chang, and Sun are accused of systematically diverting servers with American AI technology to China without the necessary licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The scheme involved directing purchase orders to a Southeast Asian company, repackaging servers, and concealing the content to ship to China.
Between 2024 and 2025, approximately $2.5 billion worth of servers were purchased from the U.S. Manufacturer, many of which were unlawfully sent to China. The defendants took extensive measures to conceal their actions, including staging dummy servers and fabricating documents.
The indictment charges Liaw, Chang, and Sun with multiple counts, including conspiring to violate the Export Controls Reform Act, with each count carrying a maximum term of imprisonment. The case was investigated by the FBI, Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, and Department of Justice's National Security Division.
The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.