Nvidia hires major US law firm to investigate alleged Chinese spy affair

Nvidia has hired one of the largest law firms in the US to investigate the affair between its own chief executive and an alleged Chinese spy.

Jensen Huang, who co-founded the tech company, has admitted to having a romantic relationship outside of his marriage. The woman, Alice Huang, is alleged to be a spy for Beijing.

Nvidia said on Tuesday that it had hired New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and that its attorney Joon Kim would lead "a thorough and independent investigation". The FBI is also conducting its own probe.

The company's share price has fallen almost to a yearly low, with $500bn (£375bn) wiped of its stock market value since Friday.

Nvidia is widely considered one of the most important companies behind the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, given it is the sole manufacturer of a computer chip used in AI tools.

It is the world's second most valuable company after Apple and its chips have become a matter of national security for US officials who are keen to win the AI race.

Alice Huang, who is also known as Huang Le, and is not related to Jensen Huang, was an executive at Singaporean company Megaspeed, which has been a customer of Nvidia.

Megaspeed had been suspected of helping divert Nvidia chips to China, a concern that Nvidia has said was investigated and debunked.

Nvidia has also maintained that the US government did not inform it that Megaspeed posed an intelligence concern.

According to the New York Times, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a memo to top officials in Washington earlier this year warning that Jensen Huang was in a close relationship with a Chinese spy.

Beijing has rejected claims that the Nvidia chief has been targeted, with its foreign ministry saying the allegations were "intended to smear and malign China".

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had spoken to Jensen Huang, who had said he had "no idea she was a spy." Trump said he believed him.

However, the relationship has drawn more political attention. Congressional leaders of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs have asked Huang to appear next week for a closed door briefing.

The Nvidia boss has yet to say whether he will attend, a person familiar with the committee's demand told the BBC. The committee has the authority to subpoena Huang, effectively forcing him to appear before it, if deemed necessary.

When announcing on Sunday that it would investigate the affair, Nvidia's board said it had no reason to believe the company's secrets or national security were compromised.

It added that a committee of independent directors would oversee the probe.

Wachtell is one of the largest law firms in the US and has several notable clients in the tech industry. Among them are OpenAI and Salesforce.

Joon Kim is a former US Attorney for New York's Southern District and spent several years working as a government attorney focusing on fraud and other criminal acts.

The Nvidia investigation will likely be treated as urgent, according to sources familiar with the matter, as Jensen Huang's public image is tightly intertwined with the company.

He has become a key public figure in the development on AI, arguing the technology is a "new industrial revolution" and is on par with the advent of electricity.

It is unclear, however, if Wachtell will be able to interview Alice Huang.

A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment on Tuesday when asked if Jensen Huang had retained any of his own legal representation amid the company investigation and the separate one launched by the FBI.

Source: BBC