Italian Police Arrest 13 In Nationwide Crackdown on Chinese Mafia Groups
Multiple coordinated operations conducted across a total of 25 provinces, including Milan, Rome, Florence, Prato, and Catania, targeted Chinese mafia clans operating with mafia‑style intimidation and territorial control, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry and remarks by anti-organized crime police official Andrea Olivadese.
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Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
US charges Chinese nationals with Nvidia chips export breach
Two Chinese nationals were arrested this week on charges that they sent tens of millions of dollars worth of advanced AI chips made by Nvidia Corp. to China in violation of U.S. export restrictions, according to authorities. The defendants used a company based in El Monte, California, to export sensitive technology, including graphics processing units, used in artificial intelligence without obtaining the necessary government licenses, the Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday. According to a criminal complaint provided by the agency, the two individuals shipped Nvidia-designed chips, including the company's H100 AI accelerators, which are the basis for computers used to create and run artificial intelligence software. Such chips require official approval for sales to certain countries. The accused were identified by authorities as Chuan Geng, 28, of Pasadena, and Shiwei Yang, 28, of El Monte. They have been charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act and could face as much as 20 years in prison, according to the Justice Department. Lawyers for the Geng and Yang couldn't be immediately located for comment. "This case demonstrates that smuggling is a nonstarter," Nvidia said in a statement. The company said it primarily sells its products to well-known partners "who help us ensure that all sales comply with U.S. export control rules." "Even relatively small exporters and shipments are subject to thorough review and scrutiny, and any diverted products would have no service, support or updates," Nvidia said. Over the past several years, the U.S. has steadily tightened restrictions on exports of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to keep China from gaining ground in the race for AI dominance. The Trump administration is exploring ways to include enhanced location-tracking in AI chips to help with export control enforcement. Up until being superseded earlier this year by a new line of products from Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia, the H100s were considered the most capable such processors. Their export to China and other countries the U.S. has deemed a threat to national security requires licenses from the Commerce Department that are not usually given. In the complaint, authorities called the H100 "the most powerful GPU chip on the market" and claimed the defendants sought to evade U.S. export restrictions on it by shipping through third countries. The Justice Department said Geng and Yang operated a company called ALX Solutions Inc. that was founded in 2022 shortly after the U.S. Commerce Department began requiring licenses to sell such chips to overseas buyers. Export records and other business documents indicate that the company sent at least 20 shipments to shipping and freight-forwarding companies in Singapore and Malaysia but never received payments from those entities, the Justice Department said. ALX Solutions instead received "numerous payments" from companies based in Hong Kong and China, including a $1 million payment from a China-based company in January 2024, the DOJ said. Those records show that in December 2024, the company had sent a shipment of GPUs that it claimed was in compliance with U.S. export rules, the DOJ said, but neither ALX Solutions nor the defendants had received the U.S. licenses required for such a transaction. Authorities said they searched the ALX Solutions office and seized phones belonging to Geng and Yang and found evidence of communications about shipping chips covered by export controls to China through Malaysia in violation of U.S. restrictions. Yang was also accused of overstaying her visa, according to the Justice Department. Geng is a legal permanent resident, authorities said. A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday ordered Geng released on a $250,000 bond and scheduled a detention hearing for Yang on Aug. 12. The court did not take any pleas in the case. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is assisting the probe, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. -With assistance from Ian King. (Updates with comment from Nvidia in sixth paragraph.) Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Two arrested for smuggling AI chips to China; Nvidia says no to kill switches
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that two Chinese nationals have been arrested for their alleged involvement in illegally shipping 'tens of millions of dollars' worth of high-performance AI chips to China. The DOJ said Chuan Geng and Shiwei Yang were arrested in California on August 2 and charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act, a felony that carries a statutory penalty of a maximum of 20 years in prison. Geng and Yang are accused of knowing and willfully shipping 'sensitive technologies,' including GPUs, to China from the U.S. through their California-based company, ALX Solutions. The DoJ did not name the company whose chips ALX Solutions was allegedly smuggling, but quoting a complaint, it said the chip is 'the most powerful chip in the market' and is 'designed specifically for AI applications.' That description makes it likely that the chips being smuggled were made by Nvidia. A report by Reuters specifically named Nvidia's H100 GPUs as the chips being shipped. A review of export documents by the DOJ found that ALX Solutions sent chips and other tech to shipping and freight-forwarding companies in Singapore and Malaysia, but received payments from entities in Hong Kong and China in return. The department also found records of communication regarding shipping the tech to Malaysia to specifically go around U.S. export restrictions. 'This case demonstrates that smuggling is a nonstarter,' an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement. 'We primarily sell our products to well-known partners, including OEMs, who help us ensure that all sales comply with U.S. export control rules. Even relatively small exporters and shipments are subject to thorough review and scrutiny, and any diverted products would have no service, support, or updates.' The news comes as the U.S. tries to figure out how to strike a balance between fostering global AI innovation and imposing export restrictions to China, which many in the West perceive to be a major threat in the AI race. The Trump administration's recently-announced AI Action Plan belabored the importance of having strong export restrictions, but was light on details. One potential solution to curb chip smuggling that has been suggested by the U.S. government in recent days is to implement tracking technology into chips to help catch smuggling, but chipmakers are quite opposed to such a move. In a blog post on Tuesday, Nvidia said its GPUs do not include kill switches or backdoors, and argued that building in such tools would only result in compromising security. 'Nvidia has been designing processors for over 30 years. Embedding backdoors and kill switches into chips would be a gift to hackers and hostile actors,' the company wrote. 'It would undermine global digital infrastructure and fracture trust in U.S. technology. Established law wisely requires companies to fix vulnerabilities — not create them.' 'That's not sound policy. It's an overreaction that would irreparably harm America's economic and national security interests,' Nvidia wrote. Nvidia did not immediately return requests for additional comment. For more on the semiconductor industry's tumultuous year so far, here's a regularly updated timeline of market news since the beginning of 2025. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Fox News
'Larger than life' shipwreck explorer dies during deep-sea diving expedition
A dive boat captain and shipwreck explorer died last week during a deep-sea diving expedition off the coast of Massachusetts, his dive company said Friday. Joe Mazraani, 48, was diving about 200 miles offshore on the eastern edge of Georges Bank to explore a shipwreck his team called the Big Engine Steamer when he died on July 29, Atlantic Wreck Salvage said in a statement on Facebook. There was no reason to suspect diver error or equipment failure, the company said, noting that all indications pointed to a medical emergency. The company said a full investigation into Mazraani's death was ongoing. "Joe Mazraani was larger than life," his wife and business partner, Jennifer Sellitti, wrote. "He was kind, compassionate, and generous. A mentor and a student, a friend, brother, son, and partner. Whether motoring aboard D/V Tenacious, diving into deep and dangerous water, or defending his clients in court, Joe demanded the best of everyone around him. Sometimes he demanded it grumpily—but he always demanded by example." Sellitti, a prominent public defender in New Jersey, also co-owned Atlantic Wreck Salvage with Mazraani, who was also a criminal defense attorney. "I loved Joe fiercely, and he loved me back just the same," Sellitti wrote. "We were partners in everything—especially this." Mazraani was born in Lebanon and immigrated to the U.S. at 15 years old, according to his company's website. He became a certified diver in the mid-1990s, "diving sunken wrecks off the Northeast U.S. coast and instantly developed an obsession with exploring the sunken hulks that litter the approaches to New York Harbor," his bio reads. He also led diving expeditions to the Italian liner SS Andrea Doria, and has dived the wrecks of HMHS Britannic – sister ship of the Titanic – and RMS Lusitania, according to the website. As a defense attorney, Mazraani helped free Timothy Puskas in 2024 after Puskas had been wrongfully convicted of murder in the death of 22-year-old former Rutgers student William McCaw. Puskas had served 10 years of a 40-year sentence when Mazraani secured his exoneration. The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender posted a statement online in remembrance of Mazraani. "Joe was larger than life: fearless, kind, and deeply committed to justice," the statement said. "Our hearts are with the Public Defender and his loved ones."
