Jensen Huang’s appearances at events involving MegaSpeed have come under scrutiny as the U.S. government investigates the company’s access to Nvidia equipment and its possible connections to sanctioned entities. Nvidia says meetings between its CEO and customers are routine, while former Biden administration technology-security official Aaron Burtnick said MegaSpeed had raised “a lot of red flags.”
Huang’s appearance at the party
In an article published earlier this month, The New York Times described Alice Huang as having grown increasingly close to Jensen Huang, citing several photographs of the two together. One showed Alice Huang at an event saying, “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 U.S. government has been investigating MegaSpeed since 2024. Investigators found suspicious boxes containing Nvidia equipment that appeared ready for shipment rather than installed.
MegaSpeed remains under scrutiny even though the Justice Department took over the Commerce Department’s investigation earlier this year. Nvidia’s own investigation found no evidence that MegaSpeed helped China evade 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,” which, he said, meant Nvidia executives were 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
