Chinese nationals, companies charged in US with smuggling AI chips and drug trafficking

In two different cases on Wednesday, United States authorities indicted Chinese nationals on charges ranging from conspiring to smuggle advanced AI chips to China to drug trafficking and money laundering.

The cases came on the same day US President Donald Trump announced new mid-May dates for his highly anticipated summit with China. The developments come as the two countries continue to compete over global leadership in artificial intelligence, and as Washington continues to accuse Beijing of playing a key role in the global fentanyl supply chain.

In one case, the US Department of Justice charged a Chinese national and two US citizens with conspiring to violate export controls and smuggle American-made advanced AI chips to China through Thailand. Stanley Yi Zheng, from Hong Kong, alongside US citizens Matthew Kelly and Tommy Shad English, allegedly sought millions of dollars’ worth of export-controlled AI chips for purported illegal shipment to China.

The two countries are competing for global AI dominance, with a US advisory body warning this week that China’s lead in open-source AI could threaten America’s top position globally in the field. The new report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission claimed China’s strategy of promoting open AI models and leveraging manufacturing dominance is “mutually reinforcing”, forming a feedback loop that could challenge US dominance.

In a separate case on Wednesday, the Justice Department indicted six Chinese nationals and two pharmaceutical companies on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorism-related offences, in a case tied to the fentanyl supply chain.