An anonymous source has revealed that OBON, a leading Thai national AI development company, was involved in the smuggling of NVIDIA chips, which are prohibited from being exported to China.
The US government has restricted the export of high-performance chips to China since 2022, and in January 2026,
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Due to concerns that China might repurpose high-performance chips for military use, such as AI-powered weapons and cyberattack tools, the US government has restricted the export of high-performance chips to China by semiconductor manufacturers such as NVIDIA. However, it has beenpointed out that some research institutions and universities in China are circumventing these restrictions by purchasing Dell, Gigabyte, and Supermicro servers equipped with NVIDIA chips from resellers. Furthermore, in March 2025, it was reported that Singaporean police arrested suspects for smuggling NVIDIA chips into China to circumvent US export restrictions.
Suspect arrested in Singapore for smuggling NVIDIA chips - GIGAZINE
Furthermore, in March 2026, U.S. prosecutors indicted Supermicro co-founder Yi Shan Worley Liau for smuggling billions of dollars worth of NVIDIA servers into China.
Court documents released in March 2026 revealed that defendant Riau was accused of selling servers to 'Company 1' in Southeast Asia with the intention of reselling them in China. According to the prosecution, the servers, assembled in the United States, were sent to Supermicro's facility in Taiwan, from where they were delivered to 'Company 1,' and then forwarded to buyers in China through a third-party intermediary.
An anonymous source told Bloomberg that 'Company 1,' whose details were not revealed in the court documents, is a company called 'OBON' based in Bangkok, Thailand.
OBON is not very well known outside the technology industry, but it was involved in the establishment of Siam AI , Thailand's sovereign cloud promotion company, and is considered a key company supporting Thailand's national AI development plan. Siam AI was the first company in Thailand to become an official NVIDIA cloud partner and has even invited NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to an AI event.
Bloomberg contacted OBON for comment, but the contact phone number listed on OBON's website is no longer in use, and emails sent to the address received no reply. Furthermore, when a reporter visited the company's headquarters in Bangkok, they were denied entry by building management staff and were not provided with any contact information.
Furthermore, Rattanapong, the nephew of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra , served as CEO of OBON until May 2024. When Bloomberg conducted a phone interview with Rattanapong on May 6, 2026, he said, 'I left OBON when I launched Siam AI, so I cannot comment on the allegations that OBON smuggled chips into China. I can only comment on Siam AI, and our company has absolutely no involvement in this matter.'
Supermicro, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a leading assembler of AI servers equipped with NVIDIA's cutting-edge components, and is said to account for approximately 9% of NVIDIA's revenue. In May 2026, Supermicro announced its quarterly results , showing significant growth in AI-related businesses, with revenue more than doubling year-on-year. On the other hand, suspicions of involvement in smuggling in violation of export controls are considered a major risk factor. Supermicro denied any involvement, stating that it was 'not named as a defendant in the indictment,' and emphasized that it was cooperating with the government investigation by conducting an internal investigation, including suspending two employees.
A Supermicro spokesperson stated, 'We have a robust compliance program and are committed to fully complying with all applicable U.S. export and re-export control laws. We have taken decisive action against the sophisticated scheme orchestrated by the individuals named in the U.S. Attorney's indictment. We will continue to take measures to ensure that our technology is handled under the highest ethical and legal scrutiny.' Sources say OBON is Supermicro's 11th largest trading partner, but Supermicro declined to comment on its relationship with OBON.
According to sources, some of the $2.5 billion (approximately 390 billion yen) worth of servers sold to OBON may have ended up with Alibaba, the Chinese AI giant. An Alibaba spokesperson denied the allegations in response to a Bloomberg inquiry, stating, 'Alibaba has no business relationship whatsoever with Supermicro, OBON, or any third-party brokers that may be mentioned in the indictment, and is not involved in any of the alleged smuggling activities. We do not currently use NVIDIA chips, which are prohibited in our data centers, and have never used them in the past.'
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in Hardware, Posted by log1e_dh