Tim Cheung (@TimCheung)

"Two #Chinese nationals – one of them an illegal #alien – have been arrested on a federal #criminal #complaint alleging they knowingly exported to #China tens of millions of dollars’ worth of sensitive #microchips used in #artificialintelligence ( #AI) applications. Chuan Geng, 28, of Pasadena, and Shiwei Yang, 28, of El Monte, are charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act, a felony that carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Geng surrendered to federal authorities on Saturday. Yang was arrested earlier that day. At their initial appearance late Monday in #US. District Court in #LosAngeles, a federal magistrate judge ordered Geng released on $250,000 bond and scheduled an Aug. 12 detention hearing for Yang. Arraignment is scheduled for #Sept11...Geng is a lawful permanent resident. Yang is an illegal alien who overstayed her visa. According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, from October 2022 to July 2025, the defendants – through their El Monte-based company, ALX Solutions Inc. – knowingly and willfully exported from the United States to China sensitive technology, including graphic processing units ( #GPU s) – specialized computer parts used for modern computing – without first obtaining the required license or authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce...#ALX Solutions received numerous payments from companies based in #HongKong and China, including a $1 million payment from a China-based company in January 2024...Last week, law enforcement searched ALX Solutions’ office and seized the phones belonging to Geng and Yang that revealed incriminating communications between the defendants, including communications about shipping export-controlled #chips to China through #Malaysia to evade U.S. export laws." https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1223447396491911&set=ecnf.100064799856517