US probes claims OBON shipped $2.5B NVIDIA servers to China
US authorities are looking into claims that Thailand's OBON Corporation secretly sent Super Micro servers loaded with NVIDIA's high-powered AI chips to China, breaking US export rules.
These servers, worth $2.5 billion, reportedly ended up with big names like Alibaba.
The investigation, revealed in a March 2026 indictment (without naming OBON or Alibaba directly), is one of Washington's most significant crackdowns on alleged AI chip smuggling since strict chip restrictions began in 2022 and has already hit Super Micro's stock.
Alibaba denies using restricted chips
The servers were sold to OBON through an unnamed Southeast Asian company and brokers, and some allegedly ended up with Alibaba.
Alibaba has pushed back against the accusations, saying it doesn't use restricted chips and has no ties with OBON or Super Micro.
Meanwhile, OBON was also involved in Thailand's Siam AI project; Siam AI later secured Thailand's first official NVIDIA Cloud Partner designation.
The story is definitely making waves in both tech and business circles.