Taiwan targets illicit AI server exports to China with five-year prison terms

Taiwan is expanding its list of controlled exports to include AI servers and the latest chips in a move to align its policies with the U.S.’s trade bans. Bloomberg reports that after the export controls take effect, anyone caught smuggling these items will be criminally charged under the Foreign Trade Act, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and/or a fine of around $92,500.

“Going forward, some of our measures on controlled items will correspond to American ones because we have made quite some commitments in the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade,” Taiwan Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin said. The two parties signed the trade deal earlier this year, which saw the U.S. cutting tariffs on Taiwanese goods down to 15% in exchange for direct investments in the U.S. tech industry, among others.

The U.S. has long been trying to stamp out the smuggling of advanced Nvidia chips into China. …