Two workers at Super Micro’s Taiwan division are being held in detention pending a court hearing, while two others were released on bail following questioning by Taiwanese prosecutors, the company confirmed Wednesday.
The investigation centers on the alleged illegal export of high-end AI servers built by Super Micro and equipped with Nvidia chips — components that fall under U.S. export controls that ban their shipment to China.
All four employees were among six individuals questioned earlier this week after Taiwan’s Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office announced a second wave of searches in the ongoing probe. The six were questioned on suspicion of document forgery and breach of trust. Investigators searched 12 locations in total, including the private residences of six suspects and the offices of three companies.
The businesses searched included Super Micro Taiwan, Albatron Technology — which serves as Super Micro’s distributor in Taiwan — and Chief Telecom, a data center operator.
In a letter sent to customers in the United States on Wednesday, Super Micro’s Chief Revenue Officer Matthew Thauberger confirmed the four employees had been questioned on June 29 as part of what he described as a Taiwanese investigation into the company’s sale of products to a technology firm in Taiwan.
“Two of the four employees have been detained pending a hearing, and the other two have been released on bail,” Thauberger wrote.
He also stated clearly: “Super Micro is not a target of this investigation,” and noted the company had been working alongside Taiwanese authorities for several months. Thauberger added that Super Micro gave investigators access to the employees’ workstations and electronic devices, and immediately placed all four workers on administrative leave while the investigation continues.
This latest round of activity follows an earlier phase of the probe launched in May, when Taiwanese prosecutors detained three individuals suspected of illegally exporting Super Micro’s advanced AI servers — also outfitted with Nvidia chips. Those three individuals remain in custody.
In a statement released in May, Super Micro said it had been assisting Taiwanese authorities in investigating the alleged diversion of its AI servers to the restricted Chinese market. That cooperation resulted in the seizure of 50 servers, which the company said had been obtained through deception after being sold to an authorized reseller.
The case also has a U.S. legal dimension. In March, the U.S. Justice Department filed charges against three individuals connected to Super Micro, including one of the company’s co-founders, alleging they helped smuggle at least $2.5 billion worth of American AI technology to China in violation of U.S. export laws.
Taiwan is the world’s leading producer of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications. In recent years, the island has strengthened its export controls to keep cutting-edge technology from reaching China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory — a position Taiwan firmly rejects.
