Nvidia’s top lawyer intervened in US probe of suspected AI-chip smuggling to China, Bloomberg reports

Nvidia's general counsel stepped into a US government investigation of suspected smuggling of Nvidia AI chips to China, Bloomberg reported on 9 November. The case involves Megaspeed International, a Singapore company. No charges have been announced, Megaspeed denies wrongdoing, and Nvidia has not been charged with anything.

What Bloomberg reported

• In late summer 2025, Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter phoned Jeffrey Kessler, the Commerce Department official who oversees chip export controls. He asked whether the department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) was involved in Singapore's detention of Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive. According to people familiar with the matter, BIS was not, Business Today said, relaying the report.
• Afterwards, BIS staff were told to route Nvidia-related requests through Kessler and not to mention Megaspeed or its Malaysian unit, Speedmatrix, outside the agency, sources said. They called the instructions unusual. Teter also sought a meeting with a BIS official, who declined, and Kessler told staff to keep handling the case "by the book."
• In late 2025 the Justice Department, which was working with BIS, asked the agency to pause. The report says BIS has made no progress since, despite having enough evidence to proceed.

Nvidia said Teter did not know about a personal matter involving Jensen Huang and Alice Huang when he made the call. Nvidia also says it regularly shares information with authorities to help stop smuggling while keeping lawful sales going.

What is alleged about the chips

The probe centres on claims that Megaspeed diverted Nvidia chips in breach of US export controls. Malaysian trade records from November 2025 showed Megaspeed imported at least 17,544 Nvidia GB300 processors worth about $787 million, Bloomberg reported. Nvidia earlier told the US government its inspections found the hardware where it should be, but Bloomberg's analysis of trade records suggested Nvidia undercounted chips sold to Megaspeed through partners by 50,000 units. Nvidia later said it inspected more warehouses, without saying how many chips it found.

Fortune, citing New York Times reporting, said Megaspeed bought more than $4.8 billion of Nvidia chips over two years, and nearly $2 billion worth were reportedly installed in data centres in Malaysia and Indonesia that allegedly serve Chinese customers remotely. Last month Nvidia said such allegations had been "thoroughly investigated and debunked," Fortune said. Megaspeed says Singapore's investigation ended earlier this year with no adverse action. It remains an official Nvidia Cloud Partner.

A separate case

Fortune says a separate indictment of Supermicro co-founder Wally Liaw and two others alleges about $2.5 billion of servers with Nvidia chips were routed to China through a Southeast Asian front company. Liaw has pleaded not guilty and his trial has moved to March 2027. Supermicro is not charged, and the indictment does not accuse Nvidia of wrongdoing, Fortune said. There is no evidence so far that the two cases are linked.

What happens next

• Nvidia's board has opened an independent investigation into whether Jensen Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation and said it has no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised, Fortune reported. Officials reportedly believe Alice Huang was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security; Fortune describes that as a reported belief, not an established fact.
• Three House committee chairs asked Huang for a closed-door briefing on 18 November, Fortune said.
• Nvidia reports third-quarter results on 17 November.

BDT will update this story as the facts become clearer.