News / Design & IP / AI chip smugglers exploit trade control loophole to bring banned HBM from South Korea into China — expensive memory chips packaged with cheap, unsanctioned processors to become legal exports

AI chip smugglers exploit trade control loophole to bring banned HBM from South Korea into China — expensive memory chips packaged with cheap, unsanctioned processors to become legal exports

By The Semiconductor Hub news desk · 2026-11-03

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AI chip smugglers exploit trade control loophole to bring banned HBM from South Korea into China — expensive memory chips packaged with cheap, unsanctioned processors to become legal exports — Image: Tom's Hardware (opens in a new tab)

Customs authorities only check the performance specifications of a server's processors, allowing smugglers to attach high-end memory chips to low-end processors and ship them into China.

Read at Tom's Hardware

Source: Tom's Hardware, published 2026-11-03. The summary is the Hub's own; the full story is at the source. Report a rights or accuracy concern

AI chip smugglers exploit trade control loophole to bring banned HBM from South Korea into China — expensive memory chips packaged with cheap, unsanctioned processors to become legal exports

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