05:19 AM EDT, 05/08/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Nvidia (NVDA) chips are at the center of a suspected $2.5 billion smuggling scheme involving Super Micro (SMCI) servers diverted to China through Bangkok-based OBON, with Alibaba (BABA) among the alleged end customers, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

US prosecutors outlined in a March indictment that Super Micro worked with an unnamed Southeast Asian company to bypass trade restrictions, which Bloomberg's sources identified as OBON, with Alibaba as one of multiple end customers.

"We have no involvement in the alleged smuggling activities. We do not currently use, and have never used, any banned Nvidia chips at our data centers,"a spokesperson for Alibaba was quoted as saying.

Super Micro "has a robust compliance program and is committed to full adherence to all applicable US export and re-export control laws and regulations,"a company spokesperson told Bloomberg in an emailed statement.

"Our diligence efforts have led to prosecutions of would-be smugglers, and we will continue to work with the government to enforce the rules while building the world's AI infrastructure,"an Nvidia spokesperson said in an emailed response to MT Newswires.

Efforts to reach OBON were unsuccessful.

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