Disguised as electronic parts: Malaysia seizes 30 AI servers at airport
Malaysian customs have seized 30 servers with advanced AI chips worth around 12 million dollars at Kuala Lumpur airport. It is already the fifth case this year linked to a suspected smuggling network.
Symbolic image · Photo: Jorge Láscar from Melbourne, Australia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Malaysia's customs department has seized 30 servers containing advanced AI chips that were to be moved through the country without the required permit. The shipment, worth about 49.5 million ringgit (around 12 million dollars), was discovered on 15 October in a warehouse in the free trade zone at Kuala Lumpur's airport; customs announced the find on Wednesday. The servers came from an unnamed Asian country, were declared as electronic components and were to be re-exported to another Asian country.
Officials link the case to a suspected network that uses Malaysia as a transit point. According to customs it is the fifth case this year, together involving goods worth more than 100 million ringgit. In June, 72 AI servers were seized at the same airport. No arrests have been made so far. Customs did not disclose the chips' maker, origin or destination, citing the ongoing investigation.
Malaysia classifies high-performance AI chips as dual-use goods that could also be used for military purposes. Since last year, exporting or moving US high-performance AI chips through the country requires a permit – introduced under pressure from Washington, which wants to stop such chips reaching China via third countries.