The New York Times reported earlier this month that Alice Huang had grown increasingly close to NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, while a separate investigation into Megaspeed raised questions about the company’s access to NVIDIA equipment and its possible relationships with sanctioned companies. NVIDIA said CEO meetings with customers and partners are routine, but government investigators have continued examining Megaspeed since 2024.
Jensen Huang’s appearance at the party
The NYT cited several photos of Alice Huang and Jensen Huang together, including one from an event where Alice Huang reportedly said, “I’m sure we can get Jensen here.” Jensen Huang later arrived wearing his trademark leather jacket and took whiskey shots.
Rizzo said it is common for NVIDIA’s CEO to attend parties with customers and partners, where he discusses “market updates.” A source told the NYT that Jensen Huang had always planned to attend the party.
“The interaction between Mr. Jensen and Mr. Huang is not unusual or unexpected,” Rizzo said. “Meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job, and Mr. Jensen speaks with thousands of customer executives each year.”
Investigation into Megaspeed
The US government has been investigating Megaspeed since 2024. Investigators discovered suspicious boxes containing NVIDIA equipment that appeared ready to be shipped rather than installed.
Megaspeed remains under scrutiny even though the Justice Department took over the Commerce Department investigation earlier this year. NVIDIA’s own investigation found no evidence that Megaspeed helped China violate export restrictions.
Aaron Burtnick, assistant director for technology security and governance in the Biden administration, told the NYT that Megaspeed had raised “a lot of red flags.” Those concerns included the company’s “ownership claims and possible relationships with sanctioned companies.” NVIDIA executives were therefore bound to question whether they should have given the company access to its AI chips.
“It’s hard to see a reason to justify taking that risk,” Bartnick said.
Source: arstechnica.com