In Sep 2024, a 
Commerce Department BIS official visited Megaspeed’s data center in Malaysia to investigate suspicions about how much it was buying.
Officials were concerned that Nvidia technology on site was still in boxes. Such behavior arouses suspicions because some companies bypass checks by showing they have the technology before later shipping it elsewhere.
US officials suspect that some of the chips may have been sent on to China, but they do not have conclusive evidence.
After the visit, US officials communicated their concerns about Megaspeed to Singaporean and Malaysian authorities, as well as Nvidia. The US has been pressuring those governments to better police data center projects and chip smuggling networks.
In Feb, Singaporean police arrested 9 people, including several Chinese-born executives of other technology companies, for making “misleading claims” about the end destination of computer servers that use the AI chips. Malaysia said in July that it would require permits for all export and transfers of Nvidia chips.
The crackdown has coincided with a stall in Megaspeed’s chip purchases. By late July, trade records indicate that the company had stopped receiving shipments of advanced Nvidia chips, despite expectations that it would buy billions more. Nvidia confirmed Megaspeed had not submitted new orders for months, but did not offer an explanation why. The company was projected to buy as much as $3.2B of Nvidia’s highest-performing computers over the next year.
In Singapore and Malaysia, traces of Megaspeed linger in half-empty offices, on corporate documents and behind the fences of advanced AI data centers.
In a premier office building in Singapore’s sleek central business district, just two employees were present on a recent weekday in Megaspeed’s offices. A door behind a small, staged waiting area gave way to a minimalist white office, with several clusters of empty desks.
A human resources manager said she had met few of the firm’s directors, most of whom were based in China and seldom visited Singapore. Most of its clients, she added, are Chinese. She said Ms. Huang had stepped down months earlier because of personal commitments to other businesses. James Tan, who is listed in corporate records as the company’s Singaporean director, is never present, she said.
Corporate ownership documents show that Megaspeed is owned by a shell company that Tan owns. The shell company’s address led to an accounting firm in Singapore, where employees said they did not know how to reach Tan.
In Johor, the Malaysian state across the border from Singapore, Megaspeed’s Malaysian subsidiary, Speedmatrix, has an office on the upper floors of a shopping mall near snack stores and beauty parlors. The office’s windows were obscured by reflective glass and its doors were fitted with fingerprint scanners.
When a reporter visited, three employees inside did not answer despite repeated knocks. A woman eventually emerged for lunch and identified herself as an administrator. She said she had no contact with her bosses.
When asked what the company did, she said, “It’s not clear.”
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Commerce Department BIS official visited Megaspeed’s data center in Malaysia to investigate suspicions about how much it was buying.
Officials were concerned that Nvidia technology on site was still in boxes. Such behavior arouses suspicions because some companies bypass checks by showing they have the technology before later shipping it elsewhere.
US officials suspect that some of the chips may have been sent on to China, but they do not have conclusive evidence.
After the visit, US officials communicated their concerns about Megaspeed to Singaporean and Malaysian authorities, as well as Nvidia. The US has been pressuring those governments to better police data center projects and chip smuggling networks.
In Feb, Singaporean police arrested 9 people, including several Chinese-born executives of other technology companies, for making “misleading claims” about the end destination of computer servers that use the AI chips. Malaysia said in July that it would require permits for all export and transfers of Nvidia chips.
The crackdown has coincided with a stall in Megaspeed’s chip purchases. By late July, trade records indicate that the company had stopped receiving shipments of advanced Nvidia chips, despite expectations that it would buy billions more. Nvidia confirmed Megaspeed had not submitted new orders for months, but did not offer an explanation why. The company was projected to buy as much as $3.2B of Nvidia’s highest-performing computers over the next year.
In Singapore and Malaysia, traces of Megaspeed linger in half-empty offices, on corporate documents and behind the fences of advanced AI data centers.
In a premier office building in Singapore’s sleek central business district, just two employees were present on a recent weekday in Megaspeed’s offices. A door behind a small, staged waiting area gave way to a minimalist white office, with several clusters of empty desks.
A human resources manager said she had met few of the firm’s directors, most of whom were based in China and seldom visited Singapore. Most of its clients, she added, are Chinese. She said Ms. Huang had stepped down months earlier because of personal commitments to other businesses. James Tan, who is listed in corporate records as the company’s Singaporean director, is never present, she said.
Corporate ownership documents show that Megaspeed is owned by a shell company that Tan owns. The shell company’s address led to an accounting firm in Singapore, where employees said they did not know how to reach Tan.
In Johor, the Malaysian state across the border from Singapore, Megaspeed’s Malaysian subsidiary, Speedmatrix, has an office on the upper floors of a shopping mall near snack stores and beauty parlors. The office’s windows were obscured by reflective glass and its doors were fitted with fingerprint scanners.
When a reporter visited, three employees inside did not answer despite repeated knocks. A woman eventually emerged for lunch and identified herself as an administrator. She said she had no contact with her bosses.
When asked what the company did, she said, “It’s not clear.”
2/2