Super Micro Computer Inc

Apple is considering building enterprise servers powered by its M-series Ultra processors, according to The Information, potentially pairing those chips with networking equipment from Nvidia. The servers would reportedly be sold to businesses rather than used only inside Apple's own data centers, putting two very different chip strategies inside the same machine. Apple has spent years designing processors to reduce its dependence on outside suppliers, while Nvidia has become the backbone of much of the AI data-center market. Such a move would push Apple silicon beyond Macs, iPhones and its own computing ecosystem into the larger enterprise infrastructure market, where it would compete more directly with Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Supermicro. The project is still under consideration, so there is no guarantee Apple moves forward.

Netlist, a small AI hardware company, has more than quintupled in value this year, outperforming Micron and Nvidia, and its rally may continue. The company reported $109.8 million in second-quarter revenue, a 163% year-over-year increase, and swung to a $1.4 million net profit from a $6.1 million loss a year earlier. A landmark five-year deal with Samsung provides $239 million upfront plus up to $32.9 million in quarterly royalties through 2031, and Netlist can buy up to $300 million in Samsung memory products annually. Following the Samsung settlement, Netlist sought exclusion and cease-and-desist orders against Micron, Supermicro, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Lenovo for patent infringement, which could block imports of memory chips into the U.S. Netlist also has a pending $445 million award against Micron from 2024, and it has named Alphabet, Nvidia, and Broadcom in another patent infringement case.

U.S. authorities are investigating Singapore-based Apex Logistics, a unit of Swiss shipping giant Kuehne+Nagel, for allegedly helping smuggle Nvidia AI chips to China in violation of U.S. export controls. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is examining 47 Apex shipments from 2024, focusing on whether Apex transported servers made by Super Micro Computer, which contain Nvidia chips, from the U.S. to Southeast Asia, with the hardware ultimately reaching China via Hong Kong. Two former Apex employees allegedly applied a shipping code designating the hardware as exempt from U.S. export controls, and both left the company shortly after Apex was notified of the investigation. Apex acknowledged U.S. concern over a small number of 2024 shipments that may have involved materials ultimately forwarded to prohibited locations, and said it is fully cooperating. Kuehne+Nagel stock fell as much as 4.2% in European trading on Thursday, its largest intraday drop in more than three months. The Apex case is part of a broader enforcement push, including Taiwan prosecutors charging nine people and a separate U.S. case charging Super Micro co-founder Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw with diverting roughly $2.5 billion in Nvidia-equipped servers to China. Neither Nvidia nor Super Micro has been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Apex probe, which may result in the first U.S. action against a transportation company for alleged participation in the illegal semiconductor trade.

An Nvidia employee has been charged in Taiwan with smuggling advanced AI chips into China in the first known indictment of a worker at the US chipmaker over illegal exports. Taiwan's Keelung District Prosecutors' Office charged nine people, including employees of server maker Super Micro Computer, with illegally selling high-end AI servers to Chinese customers. Prosecutors described a Taiwan-based senior manager at Nvidia surnamed Zhang as the central figure in a scheme involving 130 of the chipmaker's flagship B300 servers, of which 74 were ultimately shipped to Chinese customers either directly from Taiwan or routed through Indonesia or Japan, while the remaining 56 were stopped by Taiwan customs officials. They alleged that defendants falsely claimed the servers would be used in a data centre in Taiwan even though its electricity supply and network bandwidth were insufficient to operate them, and that Zhang deliberately concealed that the funds used to purchase the servers actually came from a Chinese company. Prosecutors have requested the statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for Zhang and three other defendants, while the other five were recommended for shorter terms.

Super Micro Computer shares fell about 7% on Monday, giving back part of a more than 60% surge around its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. The company reported earnings of $1.70 per share, ahead of expectations, while revenue of about $11.12 billion was in line with its own guidance but below Wall Street estimates. Management attributed delays to the time customers need to deploy and prepare data centers, not a lack of demand. Investors are also weighing over $7 billion in equity and equity-linked financing announced in June, which raised dilution concerns, and an independent board assessment over potential export control issues involving AI chip shipments. Mizuho kept a Neutral rating and cut its price target to $34, near current levels, citing Supermicro's own setup issues and the broader tech selloff.

Iran's Persian Gulf waterway authority announced that ships violating Iranian regulations while transiting the Strait of Hormuz will face future restrictions on passage. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham, the British Prime Minister, is scheduled to travel to Ukraine today, marking his first foreign visit as British Prime Minister to demonstrate that he will continue to support the diplomatic and military approach toward Ukraine. The latest opinion poll by the Angus Reid Institute shows that a majority of Canadians support the federal government's decision to withdraw from trade negotiations with the United States. The Philippine House of Representatives is drafting measures to completely ban children aged 13 and under from using social media platforms and online games, while also regulating use by young people aged 14 to 17, following a school shooting incident involving a student. New Zealand plans to ban children under 16 from using social media, saying that access to such platforms is damaging the country's younger generation. The Dutch data protection authority has fined Uber, the major US ride-hailing platform, 825 million euros following an investigation into complaints that Uber suspended drivers' accounts through an automated system without adequate advance notice and without human review. Taiwanese prosecutors have ordered charges against nine individuals, including employees of major technology companies such as Nvidia and Super Micro, for illegally smuggling artificial intelligence servers to China. Alibaba Group, the Chinese technology giant, announced a capital raising of 80 billion Hong Kong dollars through a new share issuance to investors outside the United States, with all the funds earmarked for investment in its artificial intelligence business, spanning chips, cloud infrastructure, and AI models. The China National Space Administration revealed that the Chang'e-7 spacecraft cannot be launched within the original timeframe this year because the required readiness conditions have not yet been met. And Vietnam has tightened regulations on contract workers employed abroad after the National Assembly passed an amended law.