WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court

agreed on Monday to hear a bid by Nvidia ( NVDA ) to scuttle a

securities fraud lawsuit accusing the artificial intelligence

chipmaker of misleading investors about how much of its sales

went to the volatile cryptocurrency industry.

The justices took up Nvidia's ( NVDA ) appeal made after a lower

court revived a proposed class action brought by shareholders in

California against the company and its CEO Jensen Huang. The

suit, led by the Stockholm, Sweden-based investment management

firm E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB, seeks unspecified monetary

damages.

Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia ( NVDA ) is a high-flying

company that has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the

AI boom, and its market value has surged.

In 2018, Nvidia's ( NVDA ) chips became popular for cryptomining, a

process that involves performing complex math equations in order

to secure cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

The plaintiffs in a 2018 lawsuit accused Nvidia ( NVDA ) and top

company officials of violating a U.S. law called the Securities

Exchange Act of 1934 by making statements in 2017 and 2018 that

falsely downplayed how much of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) revenue growth came from

crypto-related purchases.

Those omissions misled investors and analysts who were

interested in understanding the impact of cryptomining on

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) business, the plaintiffs said.

U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. dismissed the

lawsuit in 2021 but the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit

Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling subsequently revived it. The

9th Circuit found that the plaintiffs had adequately alleged

that Huang made "false or misleading statements and did so

knowingly or recklessly," allowing their case to proceed.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) urged the justices to take up its appeal, arguing

that the 9th Circuit's ruling would open the door to "abusive

and speculative litigation."

Nvidia ( NVDA ) in 2022 agreed to pay $5.5 million to U.S.

authorities to settle charges that it did not properly disclose

the impact of cryptomining on its gaming business.