Megaspeed Hires U.S. Law Firm to Count Its Chips as Singapore Says Washington Ignored Its Requests for Help

Megaspeed said Thursday, Nov. 12, that it will cooperate with U.S. investigations. It has hired a U.S. law firm to run what it called a "comprehensive census" of its computer chips and to verify its export controls. The company, a Singapore-based Nvidia customer, is the subject of the scandal that ended with Jensen Huang's resignation as Nvidia's CEO.

The statement was signed by Megaspeed chairman and CEO Tan Yong Pong, who also goes by James Tan. It came hours before Huang stepped down.

"Megaspeed is committed to working constructively and transparently with the U.S. government," the statement said. The company said it takes its export-control obligations "extremely seriously" and has "cooperated with inspections by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security."

The statement announces an assignment, not a result. Megaspeed has not released any findings from the chip count, and it did not address the allegations about Alice Huang, the former executive U.S. intelligence agencies have linked to Jensen Huang.

Singapore says the U.S. went quiet

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs put out its own statement Thursday, and it complicates the picture. Singapore authorities interviewed Alice Huang and impounded her passport in 2025. The ministry said investigators concluded in February there was "insufficient evidence to establish that Huang had committed any offences."

She has since been barred from re-entering Singapore and received a stern warning. The ministry said she knowingly gave police inaccurate information to downplay her role in the company. It stressed she was not investigated for espionage.

Investigations into Megaspeed and six other individuals, tied to the shipment of servers through Singapore, are continuing.

The ministry also took aim at Washington. "Despite these repeated requests, Singapore has to date received limited information or assistance in respect of the company," the ministry said. The ministry said its requests for cooperation from U.S. authorities went unanswered.

What the U.S. side alleges

A person with knowledge of the matter told NBC News that U.S. intelligence agencies determined Alice Huang had an affair with the Nvidia CEO and was a Chinese intelligence operative. NBC also quoted a former national-security official who said her precise relationship to China's intelligence service is unclear and that she may have been asked to share information because of her access to Huang, rather than serving as a career officer. Those are anonymous accounts. No charges have been announced.

Megaspeed is under U.S. criminal investigation for allegedly smuggling American-made chips into China. The company said in December 2025 there was "no evidence" of such exports.

China rejects all of it. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday that "the U.S. side should stop fabricating so-called espionage narratives as a pretext for implementing technological blockades."

The Commerce question

The Megaspeed statement lands as pressure builds on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over why the company is not on the department's entity list. Axios reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Lutnick in the White House Situation Room on Nov. 5, and that Lutnick answered, "I don't know. I'll look into it." The New York Times reported people briefed on the meeting gave the same account.

Commerce spokeswoman Kristen Eichamer denied it: "This is false. Secretary Bessent and Secretary Lutnick had no such conversation." The department told the Times that adding a company to the entity list is a decision for the whole administration, not Commerce alone.

Axios also reported, citing its own sources, that President Trump signed off on action against suspected Nvidia chip diversion three times this year, in May, in August and on Nov. 5, and that Lutnick held it up each time. Commerce's denial covers the Situation Room exchange; the department has not been quoted responding to the three-times claim.

Megaspeed's cooperation with BIS inspections also bears on that. The agency that inspected the company has not put it on the entity list.

Nvidia without Huang

Huang resigned Thursday, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO, and the board named its first-ever chairman, venture investor Harvey C. Jones. The board said it will consider internal and external candidates. Nvidia had no succession plan.

Shares fell 14% at the opening bell Thursday before stabilizing, and were down about 4% around midday, according to the Associated Press.

Nvidia has said it has "no reason to believe" national security or company secrets were compromised, while saying its board inquiry will examine all available information. Trump said Monday the FBI is investigating, yet on Thursday he said Huang "has done a fantastic job."

Nvidia reports earnings Tuesday, Nov. 17. It will be the first quarterly report under Kress and the first since the board opened its investigation. Lutnick still has to answer lawmakers' questions about why Megaspeed is not on the entity list.