Commerce Never Put Megaspeed on Its Trade Blacklist and Paused Its Probe at DOJ's Request, NYT Reports

Since Nvidia's board launched an independent investigation into CEO Jensen Huang on Sunday, Nov. 8, the questions have widened from Huang's conduct to what the U.S. government did with what it knew. The sharpest new one is about the Commerce Department.

Megaspeed, the Singapore-based data center company where Alice Huang worked as an executive, is not on Commerce's entity list, the department's trade blacklist. Nvidia itself confirmed that in a statement. Other federal agencies have proposed adding the company, according to the New York Times and the Financial Times.

The Times reported Monday that Commerce paused its export-control investigation into Megaspeed when the Justice Department asked it to. That case has since become a Justice Department criminal inquiry. Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that Justice's National Security Division is examining Megaspeed over potential violations of U.S. export controls.

The Kessler email

The Times also reported a detail from August 2025. Nvidia General Counsel Tim Teter emailed agents at Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, writing that Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler "had given Nvidia permission to reach out about the case." Kessler runs the bureau and reports to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The agents declined a meeting and forwarded the email up to Kessler. A department official told the Times that Kessler replied within hours, telling staff to handle the case "strictly by the book." The same official said Kessler did not direct anyone to share information with Nvidia.

Some agents were alarmed that Nvidia was invoking Kessler's name, and some officials worried the contact could taint the investigation, the Times reported. Kessler did not respond to requests for comment.

Nvidia says Teter did not know about Huang's relationship with Alice Huang. Nvidia spokesman John Rizzo said the company consults officials "to answer their questions, provide information we have gathered from the field, request their guidance and instructions."

The money

Megaspeed's Malaysian sister company spent at least $4.8 billion on AI equipment containing Nvidia chips between June 2024 and February 2026, according to the Times. A separate allegation reported Tuesday puts the figure for Nvidia chip shipments to China that Huang's relationship aided at no less than $7.5 billion. That claim is an allegation, not an established finding.

Chris McGuire, a former senior U.S. export controls official, told the Financial Times the situation is "mind-boggling." He said Commerce "knew months ago that Megaspeed is being run by a Chinese spy but did nothing to stop them from buying $4.8bn worth of Nvidia chips." He added: "I can't come up with a single good reason for that inaction."

Nvidia's own account is narrower. A spokesperson said the company placed Megaspeed on its internal block list in June 2025 "despite Megaspeed not being on the entity list or subject of an 'is informed' letter," and that the block "remains in place." It prohibits further sales or shipments to Megaspeed.

The timeline leaves an open question. The Times puts the sister company's purchases running through February 2026, eight months after Nvidia says it blocked Megaspeed. The sources do not explain how the two fit together, or whether the sister company is covered by the block.

What the intelligence says

A classified U.S. memo identifies Alice Huang as a recruit of China's Ministry of State Security and says she had a romantic relationship with Jensen Huang, according to reports by the Times and the Financial Times. Those are the reporters' accounts of a classified document that has not been made public.

Her position is not in the record. China's foreign ministry has called the spy accusations "groundless." Megaspeed says it is a legitimate, compliant company that engaged in no illegal activity. The Financial Times reports that Singapore law enforcement has been investigating the company itself since October 2025.

Nvidia's board says it has no reason to believe U.S. national security or company secrets were compromised. Huang apologized to employees for being unfaithful to his wife, and the company says he will cooperate with the review led by Joon Kim of Wachtell Lipton.

Policy before the affair surfaced

The Wall Street Journal has reported that weeks after a May 2025 Taipei dinner where Huang was photographed with Alice Huang, he and Nvidia lobbyists met Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to argue for export licenses for the H20 chip. The Journal reports the administration approved H20 sales a few days after Huang met President Trump. No source in the reporting says the relationship influenced that decision.

What Congress wants

In a Nov. 9 letter, three House Democrats called on Commerce to halt advanced AI chip exports to China immediately. They asked Lutnick whether he, Kessler or other senior officials knew of the intelligence on Alice Huang. They want written answers by Dec. 1.

The criticism is not limited to one party. Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of the Senate Banking Committee told Politico that "the potential for extortion is so tremendous" and that "he's got to go." Three House Republican committee chairmen separately demanded a briefing from Huang.

The Dec. 1 deadline is the next date on the calendar. It will show whether Lutnick's department answers the question of when it knew.