The Department of Justice charged two U.S. citizens and two Chinese nationals with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling, and money laundering for illegally exporting advanced Nvidia artificial‑intelligence chips to China. The defendants used a Tampa‑based company, Janford Realtor LLC, as a front to purchase and ship restricted Nvidia GPUs, falsifying paperwork and creating fake contracts to conceal the shipments.
The scheme spanned from September 2023 to November 2025, with two shipments of 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs moving to China between October 2024 and January 2025. The illicit trade is estimated to have generated between $3.89 million and over $10 million in proceeds. In addition to A100 chips, the indictment cites the export of H100 and H200 GPUs.
The indictment could reinforce legal risks for Nvidia and its supply‑chain partners, potentially prompting stricter scrutiny of chip shipments and further limiting Nvidia’s access to the Chinese market. The case highlights the company’s challenge of balancing a significant market presence in China with U.S. national‑security export controls.
Nvidia has previously warned of substantial revenue losses in China due to export controls, estimating a $50 billion market opportunity if it could serve the market with compliant products. The indictment underscores the company’s difficulty in navigating these restrictions while maintaining its competitive position in the AI hardware space.
CEO Jensen Huang has lobbied for fewer restrictions and expressed concern that tighter controls could accelerate Chinese companies’ development of their own AI capabilities. CFO Colette Kress has highlighted the impact of U.S.–China trade tensions on sales and the broader strategic implications for Nvidia’s growth.
Following the indictment, Nvidia’s stock fell about 2%, reflecting investor concern over potential tightening of export controls and the risk of further regulatory action.
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