Exclusive | Friendly-faced California tech CEO arrested by feds for allegedly hiding $300M Chinese secret

Federal agents on Wednesday arrested a California tech CEO who’s accused of smuggling more than $300 million in restricted AI chips into China.Greg Lui, 38, aka “Yiu Kong Lui,” of San Gabriel, faces a barrage of federal charges for allegedly selling Beijing a mountain of American-made AI graphics processers in violation of US laws, potentially threatening national security.FBI and Department of Commerce agents arrested the high-flying tech boss in a stealth raid at the City of Industry headquarters of Earthmade Computers, a company Lui founded and runs, and which he allegedly used to conduct the profitable yet illegal  scheme.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story Agents tracked Lui as he drove a Tesla Cybertruck with a white wrap from his posh San Gabriel home to the Earthmade’s shiny offcies in a tidy industrial park, handcuffing him at gunpoint soon after he arrived at work.Lui didn’t speak as he was searched an placed in a vehicle to be taken in for processing.Federal prosecutors say Lui and his co-conspirators used Earthmade to buy and send sensitive AI tech into China from 2023 to 2024, without the required licenses issued by DOC that are meant to promote US foreign policy and protect national security.Instead, they shipped these items to countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where no licenses are required, and then illegally re-exported them to China.The items in question were high-end computer servers, containing processers made by Nvidia Corp, a Santa Clara tech company specializing in AI.

According to federal regulations, such tech could make significant contributions to the Chinese military.As part of the alleged scheme, prosecutors say, Lui and his conspirators used fake documents to show the potentially dangerous AI tech would be going to...