According to the New York Times, the Commerce Department's Megaspeed probe went to the Justice Department after NVIDIA's general counsel contacted investigators

Concept illustration: along the top, a black banner lettered NEW YORK TIMES sits beside a white panel lettered The New York Times in old-style type, and below it the scene is split into two halves by a vertical line. On the left, under a sign lettered COMMERCE DEPT, an open envelope with a green emblem and the letters NVIDIA, a lined sheet sticking out of it, is pinned above an empty wire tray on a desk with a chair; on the right, under a sign lettered DOJ, a red folder lettered MEGASPEED sits in a wire tray on a second desk with a chair, a dark-haired woman in black with a white card on a lanyard stands beside it looking down toward the folder, and a black bar runs along the bottom. Printed on the image: New York Times: Commerce probe moved to Justice.

The New York Times reported on November 9 that the US Commerce Department's investigation into chip transshipment by Megaspeed, a Singapore cloud company, has moved to the Justice Department and is now a criminal investigation (Ana Swanson, 2026-11-09). Our inference: whether NVIDIA chips reached China through Megaspeed will have to wait for the Justice Department's criminal investigation. NVIDIA's board is examining reports that foreign intelligence targeted Jensen Huang, the November 18 closed-door briefing is about counterintelligence, and the public descriptions of both say nothing about where the chips went.

Outside observers want to know whether NVIDIA chips reached China through a Singapore middleman, and whether anyone is actually investigating. The public descriptions of NVIDIA's two November tracks, the board inquiry and the congressional briefing, don't mention where Megaspeed's chips went. Megaspeed is an NVIDIA cloud customer in Southeast Asia. Bloomberg reported in December 2025 that Megaspeed imported tens of thousands more AI chips than NVIDIA counted in Megaspeed's data centers (Mackenzie Hawkins, 2025-12-23). NVIDIA's board announced on November 8 an inquiry into reports that foreign intelligence targeted CEO Jensen Huang. Three House committee chairs separately asked Huang to reply by November 11 and to attend a closed-door briefing on November 18 on NVIDIA's counterintelligence measures. SecondSource noted on November 9 that neither the board statement nor the chairs' letter mentions where the chips went (SecondSource, November 9). What is new today is that the government's own investigation has moved to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department's case followed contact from NVIDIA's general counsel, according to the New York Times. The Times reports that NVIDIA general counsel Tim Teter wrote to Commerce Department investigators asking about the case (Ana Swanson, 2026-11-09). Teter also said Jeffrey Kessler, the Commerce Department's export-control chief, had approved the contact (Ana Swanson, 2026-11-09). According to Investing.com's relay of the Times, Teter contacted the investigators in August 2025 (Investing.com, 2026-11-09). The Times writes that the case was moved to the Justice Department "to avoid any compromise" of the investigation. Commerce Department officials say Kessler did not interfere in decisions about the investigation. The report sets out a sequence of events but doesn't show that NVIDIA's contact halted the investigation.

Bloomberg adds a second account of the same contact. Bloomberg reporter Mackenzie Hawkins reports that before sending the letter, Teter called Kessler to ask whether the Commerce Department was involved in Singapore's detention of a Megaspeed executive (Mackenzie Hawkins, 2026-11-09). According to CNBC, Huang acknowledged an extramarital affair with that executive in a November 8 letter to employees (CNBC, 2026-11-08). According to Bloomberg, NVIDIA says Teter didn't know about the relationship at the time (Mackenzie Hawkins, 2026-11-09).

The Justice Department declined to comment, and nothing is public about charges, closure or timing.

Not proven yet: both outlets' reports rest on anonymous people familiar with the matter How we checked →

Next to watch: the November 11 deadline for Huang's reply to the three chairs, NVIDIA's November 17 earnings and the November 18 closed-door briefing. Our reading that the answer waits on the Justice Department would have to change if NVIDIA's board or the company publicly adds Megaspeed chip flows to the inquiry's scope. It would also change if the Justice Department brings charges or closes the case, or if the Commerce Department publicly resumes its investigation. SecondSource's first recheck is on the November 18 briefing date.

Source and checks

This item ran in the brief of Nov 10, 2026, alongside 12 other items. How we checked it, the quote checks and what was still missing that day are on that issue's How we checked page.

Cite this item

SecondSource (2026). "According to the New York Times, the Commerce Department's Megaspeed probe went to the Justice Department after NVIDIA's general counsel contacted investigators." https://secondsource.io/en/news/2026-11-10-3/. Accessed access date.