Taiwan weighs 10-year prison term for smuggling AI chips to China
Taiwan's economics committee held a hearing on an amendment requiring government approval to export certain chips to China, with penalties of up to 10 years.
The economics committee of Taiwan's parliament (the Legislative Yuan) held a public hearing on an amendment proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party to the Foreign Trade Act, according to Asia Times.
The amendment requires government approval to export specific integrated circuits, key chip materials, components and chip manufacturing equipment to mainland China.
Violators face imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines ranging from 5 million to 10 million new Taiwan dollars, equivalent to about $155 thousand to $310 thousand.
This follows charges in August against nine people over the diversion of 74 servers containing Nvidia B300 chips.
What do these terms mean?
Foreign Trade Act: a law that regulates exports and imports of goods and technologies and sets the restrictions imposed on them.
Integrated circuits: electronic chips that combine millions of tiny components to perform computing functions.
Wafers: discs of semiconductor material on which electronic chips are manufactured.
Mainland China: a term used in Taiwan to refer to the People's Republic of China.
Weekly Newsletter
Read between the lines before everyone else. Decode the most important economic, tech, and decision-maker movements in the region.. in 5 minutes every Saturday.
