Nvidia senior manager linked to Supermicro scheme smuggling AI servers to China
Taiwan has indicted nine people—reportedly including an Nvidia senior manager and two Supermicro employees based in the country—who allegedly helped forge documents to cover up illegal exports of high-end AI servers to China in violation of US export controls. On Monday, Reuters reported that prosecutors in Keelung did not release any names but confirmed that the suspects were “charged with breach of trust and document forgery.” One suspect linked to a related case remains at large, accused of t
A senior manager at a major AI chip company has been indicted as part of a scheme to illegally export advanced AI servers to China by forging documents, violating US export controls that have been in place since 2022. The US restricts exports of certain semiconductors to China to maintain an advantage in the AI race and protect national security. The scheme involved multiple employees at several companies working together across different countries to falsify paperwork and divert hardware, with some servers successfully reaching Chinese customers while others were caught by customs officials. The investigation highlights how export control violations continue despite company compliance procedures and has prompted US lawmakers to consider expanding restrictions to include remote cloud-based access to restricted computing hardware.
Explainer: US AI Export Controls: What They Mean for Your AI Stack
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Google Unveils TPU 8i Max and TPU 8tx: A Dual-Chip TPU and a Confidential TPU
Google has added two new systems to its eighth-generation TPU lineup. TPU 8i Max targets massive context windows and rack density. TPU 8tx targets secure, confidential inference. Google TPU 8i Max is a dual-chip package built from 2 TPU 8i chips. Both arrive alongside TPU 8t and TPU 8i, announced in April. TL;DR Size: TPU 8i Max = 2 TPU 8i chips in 1 package. TPU 8tx = TPU 8t silicon plus 5th Gen AMD EPYC hosts. Runs on: Google Cloud TPU systems. Performance: 8i Max doubles TPU 8
Also reported by Data Center Knowledge
IBM Announces IBM Quantum Nighthawk r3: A New Processor to Support 10k Quantum Operations on 520 Programmable Qubits
IBM has announced IBM Quantum Nighthawk r3, its next superconducting quantum processor. It is designed to run 10,000 quantum operations accurately across 520 programmable qubits. In 2027, IBM plans to link 2 r3 chips into a single 1,040-qubit system. For developers, the announcement is speed. The current Nighthawk r2 already runs workloads up to 19x faster than IBM’s earlier processors. TL;DR Size: Nighthawk r3: 520 programmable qubits, 2,034 physical qubits, 10 l-couplers. Nightha
Why the data center you dread might never even be built
The data center boom is running into serious real-world obstacles, from widespread local opposition and permitting delays to a scramble for electricity. Before those challenges even come into play, though, there’s a more basic problem: A lot of the projects being announced may never get built in the first place. With billions of dollars in AI infrastructure […]
How backlash and red tape continue to slow data centers post-Blue Wave
The data center boom is running into serious real-world obstacles, from widespread local opposition and permitting delays to a scramble for electricity. Before those challenges even come into play, though, there’s a more basic problem: A lot of the projects being announced may never get built in the first place. With billions of dollars in AI infrastructure […]
AMD Launches Epyc SP7, Helion as AI Rack Demand Rises
AMD has begun shipping sixth-gen Epyc servers and is rolling out Helion AI racks, signaling a bigger push into enterprise and agentic AI infrastructure.
Google broadens its AI hardware portfolio with two new specialized chips
Google's new tensor processing units (TPUs) broaden its chip portfolio to more use cases: confidential model training and more memory capacity.