Nvidia’s The company’s board of directors announced Tuesday that the company has hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate CEO Jensen Huang and whether trade secrets or national security were violated after he admitted to having an extramarital affair with a woman connected to Chinese intelligence.
“Independent members of NVIDIA’s board of directors have retained former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jun H. Kim and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct a thorough, independent investigation, as announced on Sunday,” the board said in a statement.
Kim joined the firm last month and previously served as chief U.S. attorney in Manhattan, according to Law360.
Nvidia has been in turmoil since Huang acknowledged the incident over the weekend. The chipmaker’s shares fell 6% on Tuesday after falling more than 4% on Monday as investors feared investigations and scandals could lead to the ouster of its co-founder and CEO.
Nvidia and its board are facing pressure from critics and politicians over what the company knew about selling restricted AI chips to Chinese companies.
Over the past few weeks, the New York Times and Financial Times have reported that U.S. intelligence agencies have been monitoring Alice Huang, an Asian technology executive working with NVIDIA customer Megaspeed. The agencies reportedly concluded that she was passing information to the Chinese government and was involved with Chinese intelligence.
Huang, known by his first name “Jensen” to customers and competitors, has become the face of the AI industry, as Nvidia’s technology is used to train nearly every major AI model. The chipmaker has become a vital source of funding for AI startups, and Huang has been the public face of Nvidia, meeting with presidents and CEOs around the world.
However, Hwang’s actions have left the company in a precarious situation after he admitted to having an affair with Alice Hwang in an email to staff on Sunday.
“My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did,” Huang wrote in the message, emphasizing that he is an American and supports U.S. national security.
An Nvidia representative said at the time that Huang is committed to continuing as Nvidia’s CEO without interruption.
On Sunday, NVIDIA’s board announced it would investigate allegations that Huang was the target of foreign intelligence operations.
Nvidia’s board of directors also said Sunday that there is no reason to believe that neither national security nor Nvidia’s secrets were compromised.
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