Wall Street reacted sharply to mounting turmoil surrounding Nvidia, sending the technology giant’s stock plunging as much as 8.8% on Monday and erasing nearly $400bn in market value. Chief Executive Jensen Huang withdrew from a scheduled appearance at an Anthropic executive forum that evening amidst the fallout. Meanwhile, congressional leaders have given the tech leader until Wednesday to confirm his attendance at a confidential 18 November House committee hearing, which falls immediately after the corporation publishes its third-quarter financial results.
The corporate shakeup intensified after Nvidia’s board initiated an external inquiry into Huang following his admission of a personal involvement with Alice Huang, an unrelated former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed whom American intelligence authorities suspect of espionage. Despite federal briefings regarding the matter in October 2025, President Donald Trump expressed unwavering support for the executive on Sunday night, insisting Huang should retain his position and accompany him on an upcoming diplomatic mission to China. Addressing reporters, Trump stated, “I haven’t heard he’s done anything wrong. He dealt with somebody, but you know, so does everybody else,” while Beijing official Guo Jiakun refuted the espionage accusations on Monday, declaring, “The so-called Chinese spy allegation is unsubstantiated. It is nothing but smears against China,” during a standard press conference.
Federal prosecutors at the Justice Department have now taken command of an active criminal investigation into Megaspeed, taking over from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security after months of federal scrutinization into illicit artificial intelligence hardware transfers to China. The administrative shift occurred after Nvidia’s chief legal officer, Tim Teter, contacted federal investigators in August 2025, asserting that high-ranking Commerce official Jeff Kessler authorized the communication regarding the illicit export inquiry. Although agents rejected the proposed meeting and escalated the contact internally, some authorities voiced apprehension that Teter’s outreach violated standard operating protocol and risked compromising the legal proceedings.
Responding to queries about corporate interactions with government authorities, Nvidia representative John Rizzo stated that discussions take place “To answer their questions, provide information we have gathered from the field, request their guidance and instructions and ask whether they have any follow-ups,” according to reporting by The New York Times. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Megaspeed denied all smuggling allegations, confirming that the Singaporean entity is conducting an internal review while attempting to engage with American regulators. Although several federal entities recommended placing Megaspeed on the United States trade blacklist, the Commerce Department has refrained from expanding its restricted trade register for over twelve months while maintaining that all regulatory actions were handled strictly by standard guidelines.
Leave a Reply