Supermicro fires staff after $2.5B China AI chip probe, says senior execs were kept in the dark

Supermicro said Friday it has fired several employees and adopted all the recommendations of an external investigation into a $2.5 billion alleged scheme to divert restricted AI chips to China. The same probe found no evidence any current senior manager knew.

The review was run by an outside law firm and an independent forensic accounting consultant hired by Supermicro. It covered the customer transactions named in a March 2026 federal indictment of co-founder Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw, sales manager Ruei-Tsang "Steven" Chang, and broker Ting-Wei "Willy" Sun, plus a selection of other customers who bought restricted products. Reports estimate the three accused moved hardware worth $2.5 billion since 2024.

The company said its compliance personnel "acted in good faith, with the support of management," and that it is implementing every recommendation to strengthen its export controls. It did not directly admit that its prior controls were lacking.

A probe the company commissioned, paid for, and chose to release publicly has cleared the C-suite that hired it. A federal case against a co-founder proceeds on a parallel track. The U.S. court will adjudicate knowledge independently, and a company-hired firm has no subpoena power. The fired employees' identities and the number terminated have not been disclosed.