The Singapore Police Force has arrested three people for fraud. According to reports, they were caught illegally re-exporting Nvidia GPUs to a Chinese AI company, DeepSeek, bypassing US trade restrictions. This information comes from Channel News Asia. In a joint operation, police and customs officials raided 22 locations, detained nine suspects, and seized electronic devices and documents. Reuters also reported on the incident.
Singapore becomes key hub
In 2024, Singapore suddenly became Nvidia’s second-largest revenue hub, leading to speculation that the city was being used as a gateway for smuggling GPUs into China. Nvidia denied these claims, explaining that its billing locations don’t necessarily show where the GPUs actually end up. The company also pointed out that shipments to Singapore accounted for less than 2% of its total revenue in fiscal year 2025.
After DeepSeek launched its open-source AI model and chatbot, the US Commerce Department increased its monitoring, raising concerns about whether the company had access to banned chips. Reuters previously reported that despite export controls, China’s military, government AI labs, and universities had managed to obtain restricted U.S. semiconductors.
Middlemen active in Singapore
According to a Channel News Asia report, evidence suggests the existence of a smuggling network. Allegedly, Singapore-based middlemen were helping ship high-performance Nvidia GPUs—used for AI and advanced computing—to China, violating U.S. export laws. While the recent arrests highlight the role of local groups in transferring these restricted chips, authorities are still assessing the full scale of the operation. For instance, DeepSeek relies on tens of thousands of Nvidia Hopper GPUs (such as H100, H20, and H800 models) to build its large language models. However, smaller research organizations may only use dozens or hundreds.
Last week, the Singapore government clarified that it is not obligated to enforce unilateral foreign export restrictions. However, it expects companies operating within its jurisdiction to comply with relevant regulations. Officials also emphasized that Singapore will not tolerate misuse of its trade system to bypass global restrictions.
These arrests in Singapore came just after the U.S. announced a month ago that it was investigating potential collaborations between DeepSeek and third-party companies in Singapore to acquire Nvidia chips. Nvidia responded, saying, “We use Singapore as a hub for centralized invoicing, but our products are typically shipped elsewhere.” However, the U.S. Commerce Department has launched an inquiry into whether DeepSeek obtained restricted GPUs to power its AI development.
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