Malaysia will have to contend with the possibility of further scrutiny from the US government, and it’s all thanks to the affair scandal involving NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. This is due to the country’s reputation as a trusted semiconductor and technology hub, with the potential of making access to advanced AI chips more costly and time-consuming as a whole.
The comment was made by Imran Nurginias from Business Times. The country, however, has been dragged into the drama surrounding Huang’s relationship with the alleged Chinese spy, Alice Huang. And no, there is no relation between the two, despite both of them sharing the same name.
What’s the Deal Here?
If you’ve been living under a rock, on 8 November, Huang released a statement admitting to infidelity towards his wife, Lori Huang, with Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le. The female Huang is suspected of being a spy for the Chinese government, an accusation that the latter had vehemently denied.
Huang’s alleged affair with the lady Huang has raised national security concerns, given the cutting-edge technology and innovation NVIDIA holds in its hands. That, and the fact that the company is a US-based company and also supplies many AI companies with its state-of-the-art hardware.
Interestingly, Wired reported that Huang was seemingly prepared for an eventuality like this and had even hired a crisis communications firm known for handling public scandals, a year before his admission. But even more interesting are reports that the US government had already known of Alice Huang’s alleged status as a spy for the Chinese government, even then, but chose to do nothing at the time.
In light of Jensen’s admission, NVIDIA launched an investigation into the matter, with a committee of independent directors overseeing the probe, with the help of independent counsel.
How Does Malaysia Come Into The Spotlight?
Alice Huang was alleged to have founded Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based company that US authorities have supposedly been investigating since last year, over suspected breaches of US export controls of AI chips to China. Speedmatrix, Sdn Bhd, a local company, was thrown into the spotlight after it was discovered to be a subsidiary of Megaspeed, and a part of the supply chain. However, at the time of writing, the Malaysian government stated that it had yet to begin any investigation into the company and its alleged ties to the NVIDIA scandal.
As stated earlier, this scrutiny isn’t expected to affect Malaysia in the short run, but the potential of tighter export control could ultimately increase procurement costs and delay the deployment of advanced GPUs into the country.
Malaysia itself isn’t a stranger to having its borders used as a gateway for smugglers attempting to ship banned NVIDIA AI Chips into China. At the end of last month, Malaysian customs seized advanced AI chips at the KLIA free trade zone worth US$12.1 million (~RM49.3 million), which were supposed to be shipped out to a neighbouring Asian country.
