US Investigates Apex Logistics for Smuggling AI Chips to China

The United States government is investigating Apex Logistics, a Singapore-based transportation company, for its suspected role in smuggling restricted Nvidia Corp. AI chips to China. The probe, led by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, focuses on 47 shipments from 2024 that may have contained AI systems assembled by Super Micro Computer Inc.

Investigators believe the hardware traveled from Taiwan to the United States, then through Southeast Asia, before reaching Hong Kong and mainland China. These shipments allegedly bypassed export restrictions established in 2022, which were designed to prevent advanced AI hardware from benefiting the Chinese military.

A subsidiary of the Swiss firm Kuehne+Nagel, Apex Logistics stated it is cooperating fully with the investigation. This probe represents a potential first in US efforts to hold transportation and logistics companies accountable for the illegal semiconductor trade.