[ABS
news Service/08.10.2026]
The Treasury Department
announced yesterday
its first civil penalty
under the Outbound
Investment Security
Program, fining
a California investment manager $200,000
for failing to report a Chinese subsidiary’s approximately $92,478
investment in a Chinese
artificial intelligence company.
The penalty imposed on Amidi LLC, issued in July and disclosed
October 7, was more than twice the investment’s value. It demonstrates that a relatively small
transaction through a foreign investment vehicle can create substantial compliance exposure for its US parent.
According to Treasury,
Amidi’s subsidiary, a Chinese fund, invested
in Shanghai Qiongche Intelligent Technology Company
Limited, known as Noematrix, on April 19, 2025. Noematrix develops AI, robotics and embodied
intelligence. Amidi is the parent of the organization operating as Plug and Play Tech Center.
Treasury said it identified the transaction through routine compliance and market monitoring. Amidi LLC, the parent
of Plug and Play Tech Center, is part of the Amidi family’s business network, led by brothers Saeed and Rahim Amidi. The family’s
interests span technology investing, commercial and residential real estate,
and Medallion Rug Gallery, the Persian
rug business opened in Palo Alto in 1979. Its property holdings
include 165 University Avenue, an early home to Google and PayPal.
The OISP restricts certain US investments involving China,
Hong Kong and Macau in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum
information technologies and AI. Its purpose includes
addressing the expertise, business
networks and other benefits
that can accompany
US capital.