The case of Nvidia and the growing risk of AI and corruption

Resumen detallado

America’s export controls are fueling corruption.

In 2025, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime and the Organization of American States co-convened a panel (slideshow & video) which examined whether AI is the biggest corruption risk in history. In November 2026, the panelists’ deepest fears about the AI-corruption relationship came true, but not in the way they expected.

The panelists feared that AI would enable corruption by making it easier to launder money, give bribes, or produce disinformation. Instead, they learned that the corruption of AI did not start inside the technology itself but with its leaders, heads of state, government officials, and tech CEOs, steering the direction of AI governance. As we see today, America’s approach to AI governance, using export controls to regulate the supply of AI and its components, is fueling corruption. We utilize Transparency International’s definition herein– the abuse of entrusted authority for private gain.

I believe that one company, Nvidia, has become the poster child for corruption in the U.S. Last year, the Trump Administration restricted sales of chips to China under U.S. law out of fears that would provide the Chinese military with an advantage or could undermine U.S. leadership in AI. The now former CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, used flattery and donations to influence the Trump Administration’s AI export policies. And in December, Mr. Trump gave Nvidia permission to sell the H200, an older but still powerful A.I. chip, to China, as long as the U.S. government was given a cut of the sales. (Another company AMD also received an exemption). In so doing, the U.S.

Additionally, last year, Nvidia’s General Counsel, Tim Teter, seemed to interfere in an investigation of Nvidia’s sales to Chinese and Malaysian entities. And now we’ve learned that although senior administration officials such as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were warned about the dangers surrounding Nvidia and its now former CEO, they took no action. This corruption and inaction puts U.S.

While export…

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