The board of directors of the American technology company Nvidia has begun an independent investigation following reports of a possible Chinese intelligence operation against the company's CEO Jensen Huang. The review is to determine whether third parties could have gained access to confidential information of one of the world's largest manufacturers of processors for artificial intelligence.
Nvidia officially announced the start of the investigation on November 8.
By decision of the board of directors, the review will be overseen by a special committee of independent board members with the involvement of external legal counsel. The company emphasized that US national and economic security issues are of paramount importance for its operations.
"The board of directors has no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia secrets have been compromised. However, the investigation will cover all available information", the company said in a statement.
The impetus for the review came from US media reports about possible ties between the Nvidia CEO and Chinese citizen Alice Huang, who worked at the Singapore-based company Megaspeed, a major buyer of Nvidia equipment.
As The Guardian reports citing The New York Times, American intelligence agencies suspect that the businesswoman may have cooperated with Chinese intelligence and provided commercial information to Beijing. Megaspeed had previously also been under the attention of US authorities over possible attempts to circumvent export restrictions on the supply of advanced AI chips to China.
American lawmakers have already approached Huang with a demand to hold a closed briefing for representatives of three committees of the US House of Representatives. The meeting is proposed to be held on November 18. Congressmen want to receive explanations regarding the contacts of the Nvidia CEO and corporate mechanisms of protection against foreign espionage.
Jensen Huang himself, in a message to employees on November 8, admitted marital infidelity and apologized to his family and colleagues. At the same time, he did not confirm accusations of passing any corporate information to foreign intelligence services.
The Nvidia CEO stated that he fully supports the independent investigation and will cooperate with its participants. The board of directors also reaffirmed its confidence in Huang and his management team.
US President Donald Trump, commenting on the situation on November 8, expressed support for the Nvidia CEO. He said that he had received no information about any unlawful actions by Huang and highly appreciated his work at the helm of the company.
The situation is of particular importance due to Nvidia's role in the global artificial intelligence industry. The company supplies high-performance processors necessary for training and operating the most powerful AI models. China's access to advanced American chips is limited by US export rules introduced for national security reasons.
Currently, there is no confirmed data on the leak of Nvidia technological secrets or any violation of the law by Huang. The announced investigation is an internal review by the company, not a criminal charge. Nvidia promised to report further results of the review.
Sources: Nvidia (board of directors' statement), Nvidia (Jensen Huang's message), The Guardian
