Nvidia’s board hands the Huang probe to ex-federal prosecutor’s firm

The independent members of Nvidia’s board said on Tuesday that they have hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and its partner Joon H. Kim, to run an independent investigation, according to Nvidia’s newsroom statement, dated November 10, 2026.

Kim is a former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The statement follows the board’s announcement on Sunday that it would open a probe. The Information reported the hiring as well.

What the board has said so far

The first statement, published on November 8, said the investigation was prompted by recent reports that founder and CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. It said a committee of independent directors, advised by outside independent counsel, would oversee the work.

In that statement the board described the protection of U.S. national and economic security as a top priority. It also said it has no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia’s secrets were compromised, while its review would consider all available information. Huang, the board said, fully supports the review and has agreed to cooperate. It expressed confidence in him and his leadership team and promised updates as appropriate.

Tuesday’s statement adds the names of the people doing the work. Until now, the “outside independent counsel” was unnamed.

Why an outside firm with a prosecutor’s background matters

A board committee that investigates its own chief executive faces an obvious credibility question. Bringing in an outside firm, led on this matter by a former federal prosecutor, is the standard way to answer it: the people asking the questions do not work for the company or for Huang. The statement is the source for who was hired and by whom. It does not say what the firm has been asked to examine beyond the board’s earlier language, and it should not be read as a finding of any kind.

The allegations themselves come from news reports, not from any official document. Nvidia has not published them and has not said which reports it means. Huang has publicly addressed the matter, according to Bloomberg and Financial Times headlines, and Techmeme summarized Bloomberg’s report that President Trump said Huang should remain CEO. These are reported positions, not conclusions from the investigation.

Open questions: Scope, timing and who sees the results

The statements leave several things unanswered:

• Timeline. No date is given for findings or for an interim update.
• Scope. The board has said it will look at all available information, but has not listed specific questions or topics.
• Disclosure. It is not stated whether the final report, or a summary of it, will be made public.
• Government contact. The board’s statements do not mention any U.S. agency, and Nvidia has not said whether it is in touch with one.

Congress is also in the picture. According to coverage of a letter dated November 4, three committee chairmen asked Huang to brief their committees together, with the briefing requested for November 18. Nvidia’s statements do not address that request, so whether it goes ahead, and in what form, remains unconfirmed here.

For the wider industry, the timing is awkward. Nvidia is already at the center of the policy debate over where its chips can be sold; as we reported, export controls on Nvidia chips may return as the White House engages on the NDAA. A governance story that touches national security language will be read against that backdrop, though nothing in the board’s statements links the two.

For now, the verifiable facts are narrow: a named firm, a named lead lawyer, a board committee in charge, and a CEO who has said he will cooperate. Everything beyond that is either reported by outlets that Nvidia has not confirmed, or not yet decided.