Singapore’s ongoing fraud probe has raised concerns over possible shipments of advanced Nvidia chips to Chinese technology firm DeepSeek, officials revealed on Monday.
Singapore charged three individuals, including a Chinese national, with fraud last week in connection to the alleged transfer of Nvidia’s AI hardware from Singapore to DeepSeek.
Speaking to reporters, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam confirmed that servers involved in the investigation “may contain Nvidia chips.” He added that these servers were originally supplied by Dell Technologies and Super Micro Computer to companies in Singapore, then moved on to Malaysia. “Whether Malaysia was the final destination … we do not know for certain at this point,” Shanmugam said, noting that authorities began their investigation based on an anonymous tip.
Singapore is open to joint investigation with the United States
According to the minister, Singapore has asked U.S. agencies whether the servers contained items subject to American export controls. The city-state has pledged its cooperation if Washington chooses to launch a joint inquiry. The United States is already examining whether DeepSeek has been using American-made chips that are restricted from shipment to China, Reuters reported earlier.
The Singapore fraud case is part of a broader police operation targeting 22 individuals and companies suspected of misrepresentations.
Nvidia’s stock exchange filings show that Singapore is the company’s second-largest market after the United States, accounting for 18% of its total revenue in its latest fiscal year. Actual shipments to the island, however, make up under 2% of overall sales, as many customers use Singapore for invoicing rather than final delivery.
Claims that DeepSeek possesses up to 50,000 higher-end Nvidia chips banned for export to China have surfaced from Western tech executives, including Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang, although no proof has been produced. DeepSeek has not responded to Wang’s statements but has disclosed using Nvidia’s H800 chips—which it could have legally acquired in 2023—as well as a supercomputing cluster built with Nvidia A100 chips.
Dell, in response to a Reuters inquiry, said it maintains a stringent trade compliance program and takes action—potentially ending relationships—if a customer fails to follow regulations.
Super Micro stated it complies with all U.S. export control requirements and conducts internal investigations if it learns of any unauthorized re-export.
Nvidia declined to comment, while DeepSeek did not immediately respond to queries.
Nvidia’s stock dipped 8.7% on Monday
Nvidia (NVDA) shares plunged 8.7% on Monday, hitting their lowest close since last September after reports indicated the tech giant’s new Blackwell chips may be slipping into China through unauthorized resellers. The latest downturn caps a more than 12% drop for Nvidia over the past five days, sending its stock to about $114 at Monday’s close—marking its lowest level since September 10.
Dell stock fell nearly 7% following Singapore’s announcement, while Super Micro plunged 13%, adding to a 30% slump it suffered last week. Shares of British chip designer Arm (ARM) also tumbled 8% on Monday. Nvidia itself had hovered around $117 in early February 2025, shortly after a cheaper Chinese model from DeepSeek prompted a sell-off in major U.S. tech stocks.
President Trump is reportedly mulling stricter measures on Nvidia exports to China, aiming to expand current curbs to include the company’s H20 line of Hopper chips made specifically for the Chinese market. Nvidia began crafting tailored GPUs for China in 2022 in an effort to comply with the Biden administration’s trade clampdowns.
Adding to the day’s turmoil, a separate report said Nvidia and Broadcom are testing Intel’s newer 18A process technology. Intel stock initially rose as much as 3.5% on the news before reversing, while Broadcom dropped around 6%. Intel’s manufacturing efforts have repeatedly faced delays, with the 18A process already pushed back at least one quarter.
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