NVIDIA was aware that Huang Le was under investigation, and legal executives had contacted the U.S. Department of Commerce

In 2025, NVIDIA learned that Huang Le had been detained by the Singapore police and proactively inquired about the situation with senior officials at the U.S. Department of Commerce. A few weeks later, U.S. officials investigating its affiliated company Megaspeed for suspected chip smuggling began to face strict limitations, and by the end of the year, the Department of Commerce was instructed to cease its investigation.

In late summer 2025, NVIDIA's General Counsel Tim Teter directly called U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler to ask whether the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under his supervision was involved in the Singapore police's detention of Huang Le. At that time, Huang Le had already been questioned by the Singapore police and was restricted from leaving the country, while the U.S. Department of Commerce was also investigating whether Megaspeed had illegally transshipped NVIDIA AI chips. A few weeks after this call, BIS investigators received new instructions that any contact with NVIDIA must first go through Kessler or obtain his approval, and they were even prohibited from mentioning Megaspeed or its Malaysian subsidiary during external investigations.

Teter later requested to meet directly with the investigators but was denied, subsequently stating that he had obtained Kessler's permission and did not understand why he was still being refused. Investigators were concerned that NVIDIA might influence the investigation through high-level connections, so they forwarded the emails to Kessler, who did not ask his subordinates to cooperate and only replied that they should strictly follow the regulations in handling the case. By the end of 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice requested the Department of Commerce to stop its investigation and take over the criminal investigation. Individuals involved in the investigation revealed that BIS had sufficient evidence to continue but was forced to halt its work, with some officials believing that the sudden transfer of the case was unusual. NVIDIA responded that contacting the Department of Commerce was to provide information, understand regulatory requirements, and assist in preventing illegal chip transshipment, and Teter was unaware of the extramarital affair between Jensen Huang and Huang Le when he intervened.