Commerce halted its Megaspeed chip-smuggling probe after Nvidia's lawyer contacted agents, NYT reports
General counsel Tim Teter told agents that senior Commerce official Jeff Kessler had approved the outreach; the case then moved to the Justice Department, which is running a criminal inquiry.
Why it matters
The report moves the Jensen Huang affair from a personal scandal to a question about how Nvidia deals with the officials who police its China sales. Megaspeed, the Singapore firm at the centre of the affair, was under months of Commerce scrutiny for suspected chip smuggling before Teter's August 2025 email. Commerce says it acted strictly by the book, and Megaspeed denies smuggling. Watch whether Congress or the Justice Department looks at Kessler's contact with Nvidia, and whether Megaspeed is added to the entity list.
Key facts
- Email from Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter in August 2025
- Teter said Commerce official Jeff Kessler approved the outreach
- Case moved to the Justice Department, which runs a criminal inquiry
- Megaspeed is a Singapore data-centre company
- Reported by Ana Swanson and Devlin Barrett for The New York Times