DOJ Arrests US Citizens and Chinese Nationals for Exporting AI Tech to China

Tim O'Brien : Nov 21, 2025
PJ Media

"The indictment unsealed yesterday alleges a deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled NVIDIA GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading US authorities. The National Security Division is committed to disrupting these kinds of black markets of sensitive US technologies and holding accountable those who participate in this illicit trade." -Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg

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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a statement that it has arrested two US citizens and two Chinese nationals and charged them with conspiracy to illegally export to China advanced NVIDIA microchips called Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). GPUs are used in a wide range of critical artificial intelligence (AI) applications. (Image via Pixabay)

The two American citizens who were arrested are Hon Ning Ho, also known as "Mathew Ho," a Tampa resident who was born in Hong Kong, and Brian Curtis Raymond from Huntsville, Alabama. The two Chinese nationals arrested by the DOJ are Cham Li, also known as "Tony Li," a resident of San Leandro, California, and Jing Chen, also known as "Harry Chen," a 45-year-old who was living in Tampa under an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa.

All four were arrested and appeared in courtrooms in their respective jurisdictions on Nov. 19.

"The indictment unsealed yesterday alleges a deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled NVIDIA GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading US authorities," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "The National Security Division is committed to disrupting these kinds of black markets of sensitive US technologies and holding accountable those who participate in this illicit trade."

Mentioned in the indictment is the fact that AI is the new battleground between the US and the People's Republic of China (PRC). In announcing the indictment, the DOJ stated that "the PRC seeks to become the world leader in AI by 2030 and seeks to use AI for its military modernization efforts and in connection with the design and testing of weapons of mass destruction and deployment of advanced AI surveillance tools."

In line with this, China wants to tap the power of certain US technology, such as NVIDIA GPUs, to gain a military edge against the US.

The type of microchips being exported to China fall under specific license requirements that were put in place in October 2022 to protect US national security.

The indictment alleges that from Sept. 2023 to Nov. 2025, the four defendants conspired to violate the license requirements by illegally exporting advanced GPUs to China through a circuitous route. The chips would be shipped from the US, first through Malaysia, then through Thailand, and ultimately to mainland China. Continue reading Here. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here