Nvidia Lawyer Cited Official to Pause Megaspeed Chip Probe

The Commerce Department paused its probe of Singapore-based Megaspeed, suspected of diverting Nvidia AI chips to China, after Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter contacted investigators and cited senior Commerce official Jeff Kessler; the Justice Department later took over the criminal inquiry. Jensen Huang has acknowledged an affair with Megaspeed’s former executive Alice Huang, whom U.S. officials have suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence, though the allegations remain unverified and China has rejected them. Nvidia’s board opened an independent inquiry into whether its CEO was targeted, and said there was no indication confidential information or U.S. national security had been compromised; Commerce and Nvidia said their interactions were appropriate. Alice Huang and a partner reportedly pitched investors on a data-center project promising access to Nvidia chips and named Alibaba as a prospective customer, while Megaspeed denies illegal transfers and says U.S., Malaysian and Nvidia inspections found no violations; Singapore confirmed an investigation into Megaspeed but said it was not investigating Alice Huang personally. President Donald Trump has said the FBI is looking into the matter and expressed confidence in Huang, while a shareholder lawsuit alleges Nvidia and Huang failed to disclose material risks after the company’s shares fell. Congressional scrutiny and possible new restrictions on chip sales to China continue, though proposed measures were left out of the latest defense bill and could be revisited next year.