Chinese Nvidia cloud partner procured 300 servers with banned AI GPUs worth $92 million — shares of data center supplier Sharetronic plummet following Super Micro smuggling arrest

At a glance:

• Sharetronic Data Technology Co. procured almost 300 servers containing banned Nvidia AI chips.
• The servers were sold to a Shenzhen subsidiary for $92 million.
• The deal involved 276 Super Micro SYS-821GE-TNHR and 32 Dell PowerEdge XE9680 servers with banned Nvidia H100 or H200 chips.

What happened

Invoice records from China’s State Taxation Administration reveal that Sharetronic Data Technology Co., a Chinese firm specializing in selling and renting AI servers, procured nearly 300 servers equipped with banned Nvidia AI chips. These servers were subsequently sold to a Shenzhen subsidiary, with transactions totaling $92 million. According to Bloomberg, while the specific chips within the servers remain unclear, all potential options would have been subject to U.S. export controls when the transactions took place. The procurement included 276 Super Micro SYS-821GE-TNHR and 32 Dell PowerEdge XE9680 servers, both models known to support high-performance AI accelerators. The Super Micro server's product page explicitly mentions "support for Nvidia HGX H100/H200 8-GPU," while Dell's technical specifications list compatibility with the Nvidia HGX H100, Nvidia HGX H200, Nvidia HGX H20, AMD Instinct MI300X, and Intel Gaudi 3 accelerators. All these chip options were under U.S. export restrictions at the time of the invoices, which dated to May and June 2025.

The U.S. banned the export of these high-performance AI accelerators in 2022 — well before Super Micro and Dell first shipped these AI servers. This makes it unlikely that the invoiced items are old stock bought before the bans, which some companies stockpiled to have enough supply for up to 18 months. Still, Dell denies any wrongdoing, telling the publication that there is "no record of the alleged sales. If we determine that a customer has diverted our products or transferred them to an unauthorized location or customer, we take swift and appropriate action including termination."

Why it matters

The procurement of these servers with banned AI chips comes at a time when the U.S. has strictly prohibited the export of high-performance AI accelerators to China since 2022. This ban was implemented well before Super Micro and Dell began shipping these AI server models, making it highly improbable that the invoiced items represented old stockpiled inventory. Companies typically stockpile such components for up to 18 months to maintain supply continuity, but the timeline here suggests a potential violation of export controls. The revelation has already had significant market repercussions, with shares of Sharetronic plummeting following the news, reflecting investor concerns over legal and regulatory fallout. This incident underscores the ongoing challenges in enforcing export controls and the lengths to which some entities might go to circumvent them, particularly in the high-stakes AI hardware market.

Industry response

Dell has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in connection with the alleged sales, stating that there is "no record of the alleged sales" and that the company takes swift action if it discovers customers diverting products or transferring them to unauthorized locations. The company emphasized its commitment to compliance with international trade laws and regulations. Nvidia, the manufacturer of the banned chips, has not yet issued a public statement regarding the incident. The situation highlights the broader industry-wide concerns about the proliferation of advanced AI hardware in regions subject to export restrictions. As the U.S. continues to tighten its grip on technology exports to China, companies like Sharetronic face increasing scrutiny, and the incident may prompt more rigorous monitoring of AI hardware supply chains to prevent similar occurrences in the future.