Super Micro tumbles after DOJ charges three in $2.5 bln China smuggling case

Super Micro Computer

20/03/2026 08:18

** Super Micro SMCI.O shares slump more than 20% premarket after U.S. prosecutors charge three individuals tied to the AI server maker with smuggling U.S. AI technology to China

** DOJ alleges a $2.5 billion scheme in which servers were routed through Taiwan and Southeast Asia, swapped into unmarked boxes and sent illegally to China despite export curbs

** One of the people charged co-founded SMCI

** DOJ charged Yih-Shyan Liaw, Ruei-Tsang Chang, and Ting-Wei Sun in an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday

** Super Micro says it is not a defendant, cooperated with investigators, and immediately placed Liaw and Chang on leave while cutting ties with Sun

** Prosecutors say over $500 million worth of servers were diverted to China between April–May 2025 alone, calling the operation "brazen"

 (Reporting by Rashika Singh in Bengaluru)

 ((Rashika.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))