A contractor linked to Super Micro Computer, opens new tab has pleaded guilty in a scheme to illegally export computer servers containing advanced ​Nvidia, opens new tab AI chips to China, a federal court filing showed on Friday.

Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun pleaded ‌guilty to four counts, including conspiracies to violate US export controls, smuggle goods from the US, defraud the country and obstruct justice. He entered the plea on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The United States and ​China are competing for dominance in AI, with both investing billions of dollars in ​a technology seen as critical to economic growth, national security and military capabilities.