A major fraud case in Singapore has raised alarms about the misuse of Nvidia chips in global AI networks. Three men — one of them a Chinese national — were charged last week. Now, Singapore’s Law Minister says the servers linked to the case may have had advanced Nvidia chips inside.
These servers were supplied by U.S. tech giants Dell and Super Micro. They were sent to Singapore companies and then exported to Malaysia. What happened after that is still under investigation.
“We assessed that the servers may contain Nvidia chips,” said Minister K. Shanmugam. He added that the destination country is still not confirmed.
This case is not just about fraud. It connects to a bigger issue — AI chip smuggling.
Why Nvidia Chips Are in the Spotlight
Nvidia is the world leader in AI chips. These chips power everything from smart chatbots to large language models. But the U.S. has placed export controls to stop advanced chips from reaching China.
Despite this, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is rumored to have thousands of banned Nvidia chips. DeepSeek shocked the world in January with its powerful AI model. Some say they used chips they weren’t supposed to have.
Even though there’s no proof yet, AI insiders like Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang have claimed DeepSeek had 50,000 high-end Nvidia GPUs.
Also Read OpenAI Partners Oracle in $30Bn Deal to Expand AI Data Centres Across US
What Makes Singapore Important in This Story
Singapore is Nvidia’s second-biggest market after the U.S., making up 18% of the company’s revenue last year. But actual chip deliveries to Singapore were less than 2%. That means Singapore is likely used as a middle hub — a place to invoice sales to other countries.
Now, it’s being investigated as a potential part of a global chip-smuggling chain. Authorities say they received an anonymous tip and are now tracking 22 companies and individuals.
Dell and Super Micro Respond
Both Dell and Super Micro say they follow all U.S. export laws. Dell says it has a strong trade compliance program and takes action if rules are broken. Super Micro added it investigates and acts if third parties re-export chips without the required licenses.
As for Nvidia, the company has not commented yet.
DeepSeek also hasn’t responded to the claims. It earlier said it used Nvidia’s H800 chips, which were legal to buy in 2023, and showed off a supercomputer with Nvidia A100 chips.
This story isn’t just about fraud. It’s about how Nvidia chips, meant to build the future, are getting caught in the middle of a global tech war. If Singapore is being used as a backdoor for banned AI hardware, it changes how we look at global supply chains.
The case is far from closed — but it’s already exposed how messy the AI chip race has become.
Also Read Nvidia Overtakes Apple, Microsoft to Become World’s Most Valuable Company at $3.66T
