US suspects Nvidia chips smuggled to Alibaba via Thailand, Bloomberg News reports

US suspects Nvidia chips smuggled to Alibaba via Thailand, Bloomberg News reports

By Reuters
Publication Date: 2026-05-08 07:07:00

May 8 (Reuters) – A firm linked to Thailand’s national AI ‌initiative is suspected of ‌helping smuggle billions of dollars’ worth ​of Super Micro Computer servers containing advanced Nvidia chips to China, Bloomberg News reported on ‌Friday, citing ⁠people familiar with the matter.

Alibaba Group Holding is ⁠among the end customers, the report added.

In March, U.S. ​prosecutors in a ​criminal ​case said co-founder ‌Liaw directed an unnamed Southeast Asian company to buy servers equipped with Nvidia’s chips, and that the firm bought $2.5 billion ‌of servers in ​2024 and 2025.

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The ​unnamed Southeast ​Asian firm referred ‌to by prosecutors as “Company-1” ​is Bangkok-based ​OBON Corp., Bloomberg said, citing the sources.

Reuters could not ​immediately ‌verify the report.

(Reporting by Preetika ​Parashuraman in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Sumana Nandy)