Smugglers Are Reportedly Soldering Top-Tier HBM Onto Deliberately Useless Processors to Sneak It Into China, and the Trick Isn't New
Broker networks allegedly route bonded memory through Hong Kong and dismantle it in China, where HBM3E now costs about $4,000 a stack.
- Smugglers are bypassing United States export controls by bonding restricted HBM to low-end server processors, shipping the packages to China, and then separating the components in workshops to recover the valuable memory.
- Export rules published in December 2024 created the loophole by exempting HBM already packaged with processors. Specialist firms in Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia bond memory stacks to low-cost chips before transit through Hong Kong.
- HBM3E memory has risen to about $4,000 per unit over the past year, making the scheme profitable despite technical risks. A single AI chip package requires six to eight stacks, costing between $24,000 and $32,000 in memory alone.
- Security firm Lava identified 32 restricted NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra B300 units operating within China Telecom's network, though NVIDIA disputed the findings, stating that US-controlled hardware is being blocked globally.
- As China's domestic HBM development remains slow, illicit channels persist despite no agency publicly confirming these smuggling claims, which rely on reporting rather than official enforcement records or court documents.
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13 Articles
Smugglers Reportedly Pair $4,000 AI Memory With Cheap Server Chips Before Stripping Them Apart in China
A reported smuggling route allegedly exploits US export rules by pairing restricted HBM3E memory with low-end processors before shipping the packages to China for recovery.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Joo Jong-guk = Despite the U.S. export ban to China, smugglers are exploiting loopholes in regulations to [target] the advanced high-bandwidth ... made by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix
Memory smuggling for artificial intelligence chips dribbles U.S. embargo and leads to China component that reaches $4,000.
An entrepreneur would have taken advantage of a gap in export controls to send restricted HBM memory from South Korea to China, mounted alongside cheap processors. Demand and high prices for these chips can make the dismantling of the plates lucrative, although the operation is also exposed to investigations and sanctions.
Chinese companies developing artificial intelligence are facing increasing difficulties accessing advanced HBM memories. According to reports from The Information, chips manufactured by Samsung and SK Hynix are entering China through unofficial channels... Full version of the website: https://ithardware.pl/aktualnosci/chiny_usa_pamiec_hbm-55752.html
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