Two Chinese citizens have been detained in the United States for illegally exporting microchips for AI technologies.

Two citizens of the People's Republic of China (PRC), 28-year-old Chuan Geng and Shiwei Yang, were arrested in the United States on charges of illegally exporting expensive microchips used in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This was announced on August 5 by the US Department of Justice on its official website.

"Two Chinese citizens, one of whom is an illegal resident of the United States, were arrested on a federal criminal complaint that they knowingly exported sensitive microchips <...> used in AI applications to China," the report said.

It is noted that violating the Export control Reform law will result in 20 years in prison for both Chinese representatives.

According to the investigation, as a result of a search in the office of ALX Solutions, phones belonging to Geng and Yang were seized, which revealed compromising contacts between the defendants, including messages about the delivery of export-controlled chips to China through Malaysia, bypassing US export laws.

During the first hearing, a federal judge ordered Geng's release on bail of $250,000 and scheduled a hearing on Yang's detention for August 12. The arraignment is scheduled for September 11.

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Earlier, on June 10, Chinese researcher Chengxuan Han was arrested at Detroit Airport on charges of smuggling biological materials and making false statements to federal authorities. This is the third arrest of Chinese scientists accused of smuggling biological materials in recent weeks.

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