英伟达首席执行官黄仁勋因承认与一名中国女商人有染而面临内部调查，美国情报机构认为该女商人是中国间谍。
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is facing an internal investigation after admitting to an affair with a Chinese businesswoman who U.S. intelligence agencies believe is a Chinese spy.
公司尚未指定具体调查人员，但据英伟达称，该调查由董事会主导，并由外部律师协助。律师斯蒂芬·尼尔是董事会首席独立董事兼公司治理负责人，因此很可能是调查的关键人物。
While the company has not yet named specific investigators, that probe is being helmed by the board with help from outside counsel, according to Nvidia. Lawyer Stephen Neal is the board's lead independent director and head of corporate governance, likely making him a key figure in the investigation.
英伟达董事会在一份声明中表示，没有理由相信国家安全或英伟达商业机密受到损害，尽管将审查所有证据。中国已否认间谍指控。黄仁勋是人工智能热潮中最有影响力的商人之一，他表示将“全力配合”调查。
In a statement, Nvidia's board said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised," though it will examine all evidence. China has dismissed the espionage claims. Huang, one of the most powerful businessmen in the artificial intelligence boom, said he would "cooperate fully" with the process.
然而，该调查引发了对黄仁勋在芯片制造商未来的不确定性，并引发了人们对科技行业中涉及人工智能建设的公司可能产生更广泛连锁反应的担忧。
Yet the probe has sparked uncertainty around Huang's future at the chipmaker and raised concerns of broader ripple effects to companies in the tech sector that are exposed to the AI build-out.
花旗银行分析师在周一的一份备忘录中写道，投资者未来面临的关键问题之一将是“潜在的治理影响”和“监管审查加强”，因为该公司正在应对这项调查。
In a Monday note, Citi analysts wrote that one of the key issues for investors moving forward will be "potential governance implications" and "increased regulatory scrutiny" as the company navigates the investigation.
领导调查的英伟达董事会有10名独立成员，包括塔可钟前总裁、礼来公司前高管和高盛前副主席。尼尔于2019年加入英伟达董事会，是律师事务所库利律师事务所的荣誉主席兼高级顾问，他还曾于2001年至2008年担任该所首席执行官。尼尔未立即回应置评请求。
Leading the probe Nvidia's board has 10 independent members, including a former president of Taco Bell, a former Eli Lilly executive and a former vice chairman from Goldman Sachs. Neal, who joined Nvidia's board of directors in 2019, is a chairman emeritus and senior counsel of the law firm Cooley LLP, where he also served as CEO from 2001 to 2008. Neal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
这并非他第一次进行公司治理调查。据库利律师事务所称，尼尔曾处理过涵盖证券、破产、反垄断、收购等多个领域的案件。他还为多个董事会进行过多项调查，包括在通用汽车公司，当时他就该公司与罗斯·佩罗的争议向公司提供建议。
It won't be his first corporate governance probe. According to Cooley, Neal has litigated cases across securities, bankruptcies, antitrust, takeovers and more. And he's conducted several investigations for multiple boards of directors, including at General Motors, where he advised the company in disputes with Ross Perot.
他还指导沃尔特·休利特和休利特信托阻止惠普公司与康柏电脑公司的合并，并协助太平洋健康系统公司处理交易事宜。
He also guided Walter Hewlett and the Hewlett Trust to stop a merger between Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp. and helped PacifiCare Health Systems with transactional matters.
据该事务所介绍，尼尔为多个董事会和独立董事委员会进行过多项调查，不过这些客户的大部分名称均属保密。他还曾为公司和个人处理过与美国证券交易委员会相关的调查。
According to the firm, Neal has conducted several investigations for committees of directors and independent directors, though most of those client names are confidential. He's also handled investigations with the Securities and Exchange Commission for both corporations and individuals.
尼尔加入英伟达时，同时也是李维斯公司董事会主席。该公司当时表示，他于2021年达到董事会强制退休年龄72岁后卸任。这家零售商周一未立即回应CNBC的置评请求。
When he joined Nvidia, Neal was also the chairman of the board of directors at Levi Strauss & Co. He stepped down in 2021 after reaching the mandatory board retirement age of 72, the company said at the time. The retailer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC on Monday.
库利律师事务所与英伟达也有长期合作历史。该事务所表示，其于1993年为英伟达注册成立，并在大约三十年间一直担任其主要外部公司和诉讼法律顾问。库利律师事务所还处理了英伟达1999年的首次公开募股。
Cooley has a long history with Nvidia, too. The law firm said it incorporated the company in 1993 and has served as its principal outside corporate and litigation counsel for roughly three decades. Cooley handled Nvidia's initial public offering in 1999.
西北大学凯洛格管理学院管理与组织学教授布雷登·金表示，投资者将密切关注这项调查及其对独立性的强调，随着进程的推进。
Investors will be closely watching the investigation, and its emphasis on independence, as the process unfolds, according to Brayden King, a professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
“你肯定希望领导这项工作的人，让大家看到后能说：‘好吧，我们相信这是一份可以完全信赖的报告，并且相信结果是正确的结果，’”金对CNBC表示。“这就是投资者所期待的。他们只是不喜欢这一切带来的不稳定性。”金表示，从公司治理角度来看，英伟达的调查处于华盛顿特区与华尔街的独特交汇点，该公司很可能正在权衡下一步，试图安抚这两方。
"You definitely want somebody leading it who people can look at and say, 'OK, we believe this is a report that we can fully believe and trust that the outcome is the right outcome,'" King told CNBC. "That's what investors are looking for. They just don't like the instability that comes with all of this." Looking to corporate governance King said the Nvidia investigation lies at a unique intersection of Wall Street and Washington, D.C., where the company is likely navigating its next steps to try to appease both groups.
金说，由于英伟达的声誉与黄仁勋的声誉高度相关，进行透明调查对于重新赢得并保持股东信任至关重要。他补充说，没有立即制定首席执行官继任计划只会阻碍这种信心。
Because Nvidia's reputation is highly correlated with Huang's reputation, King said, conducting a transparent investigation will be key to regaining and retaining shareholders' trust. Not having an immediate CEO succession plan in place is only impeding that confidence, he added.
金说：“我认为董事会意识到，他们之所以进行独立调查，部分原因是他们确实需要了解这里存在多大程度的实际问题，他们也知道，如果不进行独立调查，那么关于其关键利益相关者是否能信任该公司的担忧将会持续存在。”
"I think the board realizes that they're doing an independent investigation in part because they really need to understand to what extent there are real problems here, and they also know that if they don't do an independent investigation, then there will be lingering concerns about whether their key stakeholders can trust the company," King said.
金说，如果调查显示国家安全确实面临风险，该公司将需要采取“非常有力的措施”来恢复其声誉。
If the investigation shows that national security was indeed put at risk, King said, the company will need to take "very strong measures" to restore its reputation.
金说：“这基本上归结为需要在公司治理中建立结构，以确保此类事件不再发生。”“独立审查必须真正独立，并且必须足够坦诚，让人们相信我们可以恢复公司运营的一些正常秩序。”他补充说，这也可能正在影响其他科技公司，尤其是人工智能领域的公司，思考他们自己的公司治理结构，以及如何应对对其领导人的日益严格的审查。
"That will basically come down to having to put structures in place in corporate governance to assure that this can't happen again," King said. "The independent review is going to have to be truly independent, and it's going to have to be candid enough that people believe that we can restore some normalcy around how the company operates." It's also likely influencing how other tech companies, particularly those in the AI space, are thinking about their own corporate governance structures and how they might navigate increased scrutiny on their leaders, he added.
更广泛的影响 纽约大学法学教授马塞尔·卡汉表示，他并不惊讶英伟达可能面临工业间谍活动的风险。
Broader implications Marcel Kahan, a professor of law at New York University, said he's not surprised that Nvidia has been potentially exposed to industrial espionage.
卡汉说，由于该公司运营在如此高度可见且至关重要的领域，像英伟达这样的公司在运营以及将信息托付给谁时必须谨慎。调查可能意味着该公司可能会考虑增加额外的治理委员会，以确保此类事件不再发生。
Because the company operates in such a high-visibility and crucial sector, Kahan said companies like Nvidia have to be careful in their operations and whom they trust with their information. The investigation could mean the company may consider adding additional governance committees to ensure this doesn't happen again.
关于其首席执行官的披露也可能意味着，英伟达及其律所将提供更多专门培训，以确保商业秘密得到严密保护。
The revelations about its CEO will also likely mean more specialized training from Nvidia and its law firms to ensure trade secrets are kept close.
他还表示，该公司可能将深入调查置于对投资者透明度之上，专注于招募“最顶尖的人才”协助调查。
He also said the company is likely prioritizing an in-depth investigation over transparency to investors, focusing on recruiting "the best of the best" to assist with the probe.
“英伟达是华尔街最有价值的公司之一，”卡汉对CNBC表示。“考虑到它受到的所有关注，我认为，这是我不会太担心会有任何不正当手段的情况之一。”不过，尽管英伟达是一家对市场有巨大影响力的大公司，哥伦比亚商学院商业领导力教授凯瑟琳·哈里根表示，这场争议可能不会对企业治理结构造成太大影响。
"Nvidia is one of the most valuable companies on Wall Street," Kahan told CNBC. "I think, given all the attention that's being paid to it, this is one of the instances where I would not be that worried about anything being done in an underhanded way." Still, although Nvidia is a major company with massive influence on the market, the controversy may not end up making too large of a dent in corporate governance structures, according to Kathryn Harrigan, a professor of business leadership at Columbia Business School.
哈里根说，由于华尔街和硅谷之前见过类似争议的发展过程，这场丑闻可能只是在重复其前辈的剧本。
Harrigan said because Wall Street and Silicon Valley have seen similar controversies play out before, this scandal may simply be following the script of its predecessors.
“这会改变人工智能建设的基本结构吗？可能不会，”她对CNBC表示。“如果你有芯片订单，有时要等几年才能轮到上他们的日程。你不可能神奇地从一个供应商转到另一个供应商。”
"Is it going to change the basic structure of the AI build-out? Probably not," she told CNBC. "You sometimes wait years to get on their schedule if you have an order for chips. It's not like you can magically switch from one vendor to another."