Malaysia has foiled an attempt to smuggle advanced artificial intelligence chips through Kuala Lumpur airport in a case worth more than $12 million, customs officials said on Wednesday.
The bust was the fifth case this year involving a syndicate smuggling advanced AI chips, with the total estimated value exceeding $24 million, officials said.
The Southeast Asian nation, an emerging data-centre hub, is seeking to prevent itself from being used as a transit point for restricted chips destined for other countries.
A team inspecting Kuala Lumpur airport’s free trade zone this month seized 30 server units containing advanced AI chips worth 49.5 million ringgit ($12.1 million), airport customs director Aspalila Ag Tuah said.
Malaysia tightened export and transshipment controls on US chips last year, requiring strategic trade permits and advance notification when there is suspicion of misuse or diversion.
“The servers were declared as ‘electronic components’ to avoid detection by the authorities,” Aspalila told a news conference.
“Initial investigations found that the servers were to be re-exported to another country in Asia,” she added.
The syndicate used Malaysia as a transit point to avoid restrictions during the export of the servers to their next destination, she said.
Aspalila said the servers came from “an Asian country”, declining to specify their exact origin, where the chips were manufactured or where they were headed.
“The case is still under further investigation and the company that facilitated the shipment has been called in to assist investigations,” she said.
The United States has tightened restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports through Malaysia and Thailand in an effort to curb their diversion to China.
Malaysia has also launched several investigations, including one into how servers containing US-made Nvidia chips destined for Singapore ended up in Malaysia.
Authorities said at the time they had found no evidence of illicit trade in advanced semiconductors.
