China is one of Nvidia’s largest markets, particularly for data centers, gaming and artificial intelligence applications.
Avishek Das | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Two Chinese nationals in California have been arrested and charged with the illegal shipment of tens of millions of dollars‘ worth of AI chips, including from Nvidia, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Chuan Geng, 28, and Shiwei Yang, 28, exported the sensitive chips and other technology to China from October 2022 through July 2025 without obtaining the required licenses, the DOJ said.
The illicit shipments included Nvidia’s H100 general processing units, according to a criminal complaint provided to CNBC. The H100 is amongst the U.S. chipmaker’s most cutting-edge chips used in artificial intelligence applications.
The Department of Commerce has placed such chips under export controls since 2022 as part of broader efforts by the U.S. to restrict China’s access to the most advanced semiconductor technology.
This case demonstrates that smuggling is a “nonstarter,” Nvidia told CNBC. “We primarily sell our products to well-known partners, including OEMs, who help us ensure that all sales comply with U.S. export control rules.”
“Even relatively small exporters and shipments are subject to thorough review and scrutiny, and any diverted products would have no service, support, or updates,” the chipmaker added.
Geng and Yang’s California-based company, ALX Solutions, had been founded shortly after the U.S. chip controls first came into place.
According to the DOJ, law enforcement searched ALX Solutions’ office and seized phones belonging to Geng and Yang, which revealed incriminating communications between the defendants, including those about evading U.S. export laws by shipping sensitive chips to China through Malaysia.
The review also showed that in December 2024, ALX Solutions made over 20 shipments from the U.S. to shipping and freight-forwarding companies in Singapore and Malaysia, which the DOJ said are commonly used as transshipment points to conceal illicit shipments to China.
ALX Solutions did not appear to have been paid by entities they purportedly exported goods to, instead receiving numerous payments from companies based in Hong Kong and China.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security and the FBI are continuing to investigate the matter.
The smuggling of advanced microchips has become a growing concern in Washington. According to a report from the Financial Times last month, at least $1 billion worth of Nvidia’s chips entered China after Donald Trump tightened chip export controls earlier this year.
In response to the report, Nvidia had said that data centers built with smuggled chips were a “losing proposition” and that it does not support unauthorized products.
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) listens as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House during an event on “Investing in America” on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Monday said that he initially asked Nvidia for a 20% cut of the chipmaker’s sales to China, but the number came down to 15% after CEO Jensen Huang negotiated with him.
The comments came after news broke over the weekend that Nvidia agreed to pay the federal government a 15% cut in return for receiving export control licenses that will allow it to once again sell the H20 chip to China and Chinese companies. Nvidia’s Huang visited Trump in the White House on Friday.
“I said, ‘listen, I want 20% if I’m going to approve this for you, for the country,'” Trump said in a press conference in Washington.
Trump said that Nvidia’s H20 is an “old chip that China already has” and is “obsolete.” He compared the H20 chip to Nvidia’s current fastest artificial intelligence chip, which is called Blackwell, and said that he wouldn’t allow those to be sold to China without significant downgrades, such as a 30% to 50% reduction in performance.
“The Blackwell is super-duper advanced. I wouldn’t make a deal with that,” Trump said, adding that it was possible to make a deal for a “somewhat enhanced in a negative way” version of Blackwell.
“That’s the latest and the greatest in the world. Nobody has it. They won’t have it for five years,” Trump said.
One reason for the U.S. export controls is fear that providing advanced chips to China could allow the foreign power to leapfrog the U.S. in AI capabilities. Many have said that could pose a threat to the national security of the U.S.
Trump said that China already has chips with some similar capabilities to the H20.
Huang has said that it is better for U.S. national security if Chinese AI developers use U.S. technology, and that denying them access to Nvidia chips would actually encourage the Chinese chip industry to develop and catch up.
“He’s selling a essentially old chip,” Trump said. “Huawei has a similar chip.”
The H20 is a Chinese-specific chip that has had its performance slowed down. It is related to Nvidia’s H100 and H200 chips that are used in the U.S. The H20 was introduced after the Biden administration implemented export controls on AI chips in 2023.
In April, the Trump administration said it would require a license to export the H20 chip, and in May, Huang said that “effectively closed” the market off to Nvidia. Huang said that Nvidia was expecting to sell about $8 billion in H20 chips in the July quarter before sales were stopped.
“While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” an Nvidia spokesperson told CNBC on Monday.
Trump on Monday also said that Huang plans to visit him again to negotiate export licenses for the Blackwell chips.
“I think he’s coming to see me again about that,” Trump said.
A White House official confirmed to CNBC that AMD, the second-place AI chip maker, will also pay 15% to receive an export license for its China-focused AI chip, the Instinct MI308.
Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange Bullish raised the size of its initial public offering.
Bullish is aiming to raise $990 million, offering 30 million shares priced between $32 and $33 apiece, and targeting a valuation of $4.8 billion, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company, led by former New York Stock Exchange president Tom Farley, had previously marketed 20.3 million shares at a proposed range between $28 and $31 a share and sought a $4.2 billion valuation, per a filing last week.
Bullish granted its underwriters, led by JPMorgan, Jefferies and Citigroup, a 30-day option to sell an additional 4.5 million shares. Bullish stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol “BLSH.”
BlackRock and Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management have indicated interest in purchasing up to $200 million of the shares, according to the updated filing.
Bullish, which also owns the crypto media site CoinDesk, is the latest crypto firm to join the public market, reflecting reinvigorated capital markets driven by investor confidence and increasing regulatory support and clarity from Washington. The stablecoin issuer Circle made its highly successful debut in June. In May, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digitaluplisted to the Nasdaq and stock and crypto trading app eToroopened trading to the public.
Crypto custody startup BitGo has confidentially filed for a U.S. listing as has Gemini, the crypto exchange run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
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After four previous scrubs or delays in a row since August 7th SpaceX launches Amazon KF-02 Kuipeer Satellites after the 5th attempt August 11th 2025 at 8:35 AM SLC-40 Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, Florida USA.
Scott Schilke| SipaUSA |AP
Amazon shipped another batch of internet-beaming satellites into orbit on Monday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, after four previous launch attempts were interrupted by weather issues.
Monday’s launch is the fourth Kuiper mission, and Amazon now has 102 satellites in orbit.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 8:35 a.m. ET. Roughly an hour after launch, SpaceX confirmed all 24 of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites were successfully deployed.
The mission was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but SpaceX was forced to scrub the launch, along with three more attempts over the past few days due to rainfall.
For the second time, Amazon turned to Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, its chief competitor in the low-earth orbit satellite market, for help building out its constellation.
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SpaceX’s Starlink is currently the dominant provider of low-earth orbit satellite internet, with a constellation of roughly 8,000 satellites and about 5 million customers worldwide.
Amazon is racing to get more of its Kuiper satellites into space to meet a deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC requires that Amazon have about 1,600 satellites in orbit by the end of July 2026, with the full 3,236-satellite constellation launched by July 2029.
Amazon has booked up to 83 launches, including three rides with SpaceX.
While the company is still in the early stages of building out its constellation, Amazon has already inked deals with governments as it hopes to begin commercial service later this year.