Nvidia has hired Joon H. Kim, a Korean American former federal prosecutor, to lead an independent investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by Chinese intelligence.
Nvidia’s independent directors said Tuesday that they had retained Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (WLRK), to conduct the review. Kim will lead the inquiry, according to The New York Times.
WLRK, where Kim is a partner, is a New York-based firm known for its work on mergers and acquisitions, high-stakes litigation and crisis management.
Nvidia said its board sees no indication that national security or company secrets were compromised, but will examine all available information with Huang’s cooperation.
“A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation,” the board said in its Sunday statement. “While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information. Jensen fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it.”
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The board announced the investigation on Sunday, the same day Huang admitted in an email to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife. The email did not name the woman involved.
The inquiry follows an Oct. 29 New York Times report about Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese businesswoman who had a close relationship with Jensen Huang. U.S. intelligence officials believe she was passing information to Beijing, the Times reported. The two are not related.
Nvidia’s board said it had reaffirmed confidence in Huang and the company’s management, even as the investigation proceeds.
Kim, 55, is a second-generation Korean American whose Korean name is Kim Joon-hyun. He graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as a federal prosecutor in 2000.
He served as acting U.S. attorney for the district, which covers Manhattan, from March 2017 to January 2018.
As acting U.S. attorney, Kim drew media attention for leading the investigation into the 2017 Halloween truck attack in Manhattan, in which an Islamic State sympathizer killed eight people.
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In 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James appointed Kim to co-lead an independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo resigned after the findings were released.
The investigation is expected to scrutinize the circumstances surrounding Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang and whether any sensitive information was exposed. Nvidia has not said how long the review will take or whether it will result in further action against Huang.
The case has drawn attention because of Nvidia’s central role in the global AI industry and its extensive ties to Korean chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
