Nvidia faces a US Justice Department antitrust investigation, Semafor reported on Thursday, hours after co-founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of the world’s most closely watched AI chipmaker. The report, citing two administration officials, turns a saga about one executive’s exit into a wider federal problem for the company itself.

According to the report, the antitrust probe is one of three DOJ investigations now circling Nvidia, and it is the one focused specifically on the company. Two separate inquiries are examining Singapore data centre operator Megaspeed and server maker Supermicro, with the focus on the involvement of Alice Huang, the former Megaspeed executive whom US officials suspect of being a Chinese intelligence asset.

Semafor said there was no indication that the Justice Department would seek to charge Nvidia or Huang criminally at this time. The outlet did not say what the antitrust investigation covers, and both Nvidia and the Justice Department declined to comment. Megaspeed and Supermicro did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nvidia shares fell more than 13% at the open on Thursday, after Huang’s resignation. Seeking Alpha reported that Supermicro shares tumbled 13% by noon trading.

Timeline of the investigations around Nvidia, from the March 2026 Supermicro charges to the November 12 report of a DOJ antitrust probe

Three probes, one saga. Graphic: GPTOnline.

What Semafor reported

The antitrust inquiry is the newest of the three probes, and the only one aimed directly at Nvidia. Semafor reported it on Thursday morning, the same day Huang’s resignation took effect, and described it as one of several Justice Department investigations that could sweep up the chipmaker.

What the probe actually covers remains undisclosed. Semafor did not publish its scope, and neither the Justice Department nor Nvidia would discuss it. That leaves the central question open: whether the inquiry concerns Nvidia’s market power, its sales practices, or something tied to the chip diversion cases already under way.

The timing alone is significant. Huang admitted to an extramarital affair with Alice Huang before resigning, and US officials suspect her of being a Chinese intelligence asset. The resignation was supposed to close a chapter. Instead, the first full day under interim chief executive Colette Kress opened with news of a federal antitrust probe.

The Megaspeed trail

Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre operator, was one of Nvidia’s largest customers in Southeast Asia. It has been under federal scrutiny over suspicions that it diverted export-restricted Nvidia AI chips to China. Megaspeed has denied wrongdoing.

The New York Times reported earlier this week that Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter contacted Commerce Department investigators in August 2025 seeking information about their Megaspeed probe. The Justice Department later asked Commerce to suspend its work and hand over the case, and it is now running a criminal investigation into Megaspeed. The Times found no evidence that Nvidia succeeded in influencing the outcome.

Pressure on Capitol Hill is building. In a letter to the departments of Justice, Commerce and State and the Director of National Intelligence, Senator Michael Bennet called the Megaspeed investigations “crucial and time-sensitive,” Semafor reported. He also asked them to consider “specific punitive measures” against Megaspeed, as well as stronger approaches to export controls and enforcement.

The Supermicro link

The third strand reaches back to March, when federal prosecutors charged Supermicro co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw and two others with routing about $2.5 billion worth of servers containing Nvidia H200 and B200 chips to China through a Southeast Asian front company. Supermicro was not charged and has said it was a victim of the scheme. The indictment does not accuse Nvidia of wrongdoing. Liaw’s trial has been pushed back to March 2027.

The three inquiries are separate matters, but they share a thread: the suspected diversion of restricted Nvidia chips to China, and the role of Alice Huang.

Key figures: three DOJ probes, $2.5 billion in servers allegedly routed to China, a 13 percent plus share drop, and a March 2027 trial date

Key figures from the investigations. Graphic: GPTOnline. Sources: Semafor, NDTV Profit, Seeking Alpha.

Pressure on Nvidia’s new leadership

The new probes add to the pressure on Nvidia’s new leadership. Board Chair Harvey Jones, appointed to the newly created position on Thursday, wrote to employees that “the Board has full confidence in Colette to deliver on our commitments to shareholders, customers, partners, and to each of you,” according to a letter seen by Semafor.

Interim CEO Colette Kress told staff in a separate letter that “this has been an extraordinarily difficult period and I want you to know how grateful we are for your resilience,” Semafor reported. Kress is due to address employees directly for the first time as interim CEO on November 18.

Washington is not letting the matter rest. Senator Elizabeth Warren said Huang’s resignation “does not absolve him,” arguing that he and other Nvidia executives still owe Congress answers on export-control compliance. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast has said Huang is willing to testify as soon as next week, as GPTOnline reported on Thursday.

Why it matters

An antitrust probe of Nvidia is a different kind of threat from the export-control cases. The Megaspeed and Supermicro inquiries ask whether chips reached China in breach of US rules. An antitrust investigation asks how Nvidia uses its dominance in the AI chip market, and its outcome could shape pricing, bundling and access for the entire AI industry.

The probe is also separate from a DOJ inquiry into Nvidia’s Hugging Face deal reported in October. Nvidia now faces federal scrutiny on more than one front at once, with no permanent chief executive in place and earnings due on November 17.

For now, the key facts are narrow: a probe exists, its scope is undisclosed, and no criminal charges against Nvidia or Huang are indicated. The next milestones are close: earnings on November 17, Kress’s staff address and a House briefing on November 18, and Huang’s expected testimony to Congress within the next week.

Sources