Malaysia has launched an investigation into whether local laws were violated in the shipment of servers linked to a fraud case in Singapore, as the equipment may have contained advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips subject to U.S. export restrictions.
The case, which surfaced late last month, led Singaporean authorities to charge three men with fraud. Reports suggest the case involves the transfer of Nvidia AI chips to Chinese AI company DeepSeek. Singapore stated that the servers, supplied by U.S. firms, were shipped to Malaysia and may have contained Nvidia chips. However, it has not clarified whether these components fall under U.S. export controls.
Malaysia’s trade ministry issued a statement confirming that the government is taking “necessary actions” to determine if any Malaysian laws were breached regarding the shipment of U.S.-sanctioned AI chips. It further emphasized ongoing collaboration with both the United States and Singapore to develop effective measures for addressing trade compliance issues involving restricted technology.
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities are investigating whether DeepSeek has been using restricted American-made chips to develop its AI models. The Chinese firm’s advancements in AI have drawn significant global attention, particularly after its model’s performance made headlines in January.
