By Bloomberg
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US lawmakers are asking Futurewei, a subsidiary of the blacklisted Chinese firm Huawei Technologies, to explain why it shared buildings in Silicon Valley with Nvidia, thrusting the US chipmaker into the crossfire of an investigation into possible Chinese espionage.
A letter penned by Republican Chairman John Moolenaar and Democratic Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the House Select Committee on China shows a decadelong history of a shared address for Futurewei Technologies at Nvidia’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
The lawmakers say that Futurewei held the prime lease on three buildings at the site before Nvidia acquired full control in 2024. The letter also cites a May filing that shows Futurewei is a subsidiary of Huawei.
“This co-location provided Futurewei unprecedented access to America’s most advanced semiconductor and AI capabilities,” the lawmakers wrote, adding that their espionage concerns were amplified because of a 2018 complaint alleging Futurewei sneaked into a Facebook telecommunications summit after Huawei was denied entry by directing employees to register using fake US company names.
Among other paperwork related to its Huawei ties, the letter requests Futurewei provide all documents and correspondence related to the selection of the Santa Clara facility and a description of any activities involving Nvidia by September 28.
A representative for the House panel declined to comment beyond the letter and press release. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attempts to reach Futurewei for comment, meanwhile, were not immediately successful.
