Federal prosecutors charged two Chinese nationals and two U.S. citizens with a scheme to ship millions of dollars worth of sophisticated chips made by Nvidia Corp. to China in violation of national security export restrictions.

The men used a fake real estate business in Tampa, Florida, as a front to move the shipments of hundreds of chips through Malaysia and ultimately to China without applying for export licenses from the U.S. Commerce Department, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

U.S. laws curtailing China’s access to advanced semiconductors began in earnest three years ago, and have been kept in place over concern that AI chips will strengthen China’s military and threaten U.S. national security. China’s rapid advances, including the launch of the DeepSeek AI chatbot in

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