Washington, Nov 12: Nvidia, one of the world’s most valuable technology companies, has appointed prominent US law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct an independent investigation into an espionage controversy involving its CEO, Jensen Huang.
Amid the controversy, Huang visited the company’s office, acknowledged his mistakes and apologised to employees. The company announced on Tuesday that it had assigned the investigation to the law firm. Former US attorney Jun Kim is expected to lead the probe.
Nvidia’s board has tasked a committee of independent directors with overseeing the investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is also looking into the matter.
The controversy has reportedly fuelled discontent and uncertainty within the company. Huang, however, has been trying to ensure that its regular operations remain unaffected.
Meanwhile, senior Republican member of the US Senate Banking Committee Kevin Cramer and former economic adviser Larry Kudlow have called for Huang’s immediate resignation.
A report by The New York Times alleged that Huang had a personal relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at a Singapore-based data centre company. US officials reportedly view Alice as a suspected Chinese intelligence agent.
Senator Cramer said Nvidia’s chips are highly sensitive and warned that the alleged relationship could expose Huang to blackmail. He said Huang’s continued leadership could pose a threat to US national security.
Kudlow, a Fox Business host, also described Huang’s resignation as a matter of “common sense”.
Reports suggest that Alice Huang is suspected of working for Chinese intelligence and helping illegally transfer advanced US artificial intelligence chips to China.
The US House Select Committee on China has also expressed concern that the case could have implications for the US-China artificial intelligence rivalry and national security. (Source: BBC)
People’s News Monitoring Service
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