By Thibault Spirlet
Publication Date: 2025-12-09 17:15:00
Ever heard of a chipmaker called “SANDKYAN?”
No? That’s because it doesn’t exist — it was the fake company name involved in what US authorities are saying was a “sophisticated” AI chip-smuggling operation.
On Monday, prosecutors announced they have arrested several parties in connection with an operation that involved smuggling Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to China and Hong Kong in violation of US export control laws.
Among those are Fanyue “Tom” Gong, a 43-year-old tech-company owner in New York, and Benlin Yuan, a 58-year-old Canadian executive. They were arrested on December 3 and November 28, respectively, after investigators linked them to the trafficking network, the Department of Justice said in a press release published Monday.
The Nvidia chips, known as GPUs, are used to train cutting-edge AI models and high-performance computing systems. They are tightly restricted due to their potential military applications.
“These chips are the building blocks of AI superiority and are integral to modern military applications,” said US Attorney Nicholas Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas, adding that the smuggling operation threatened national security.
Yuan’s lawyer told Business Insider he had no comment about the cases. A representative for Gong could not immediately be identified.
An Nvidia spokesperson told Business Insider that the export system is “rigorous and comprehensive” and that it will “continue to work with the government and…
