Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee about Nvidia chip exports to China, his spokesperson told NBC News on Thursday, Nov. 12.[1] Committee Chairman Tim Scott also asked former Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang to testify on Dec. 3.[1]
Related: Nvidia CEO Huang resigns as shares plunge 13% at the open.
What the Senate panel asked
Scott, a South Carolina Republican, sent letters to Huang and Lutnick on Thursday evening.[1] The letters requested testimony at separate hearings, with Huang on Dec. 3 and Lutnick on Dec. 10.[1]
The letter to Lutnick asked him to testify on “recent public reports about NVIDIA and the Department of Commerce’s role that raises national security concerns,” CNBC reported.[1] The letter to Huang said reports about his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy “raise significant national security concerns.”[1]
Scott asked Huang to appear voluntarily and warned that the panel could issue a subpoena to compel his testimony.[2] “The American people deserve answers,” Scott wrote on X.[2]
Three House committees also sent Huang a letter summoning him to a closed-door interview on Dec. 1.[2] They are the intelligence and foreign affairs committees and a panel on China.[2]
How Lutnick responded
“Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the Banking Committee to address their questions,” spokesperson Kristen Eichamer told NBC News.[1] CNBC said it had contacted the Commerce Department for comment.[1]
Unnamed Trump administration officials have told U.S. media that Lutnick stalled efforts to tighten export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China, the BBC reported.[2] That account is unconfirmed.
Lawmakers in both parties press the Commerce Department
Sen. Jim Banks said on Fox News on Thursday that Lutnick “appears to have used loopholes to allow some of these chip sales to occur.”[1]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, will chair the Banking Committee from January.[1] She said Thursday that Lutnick and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler “must explain why they have not closed export control loopholes.”[1]
Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, and Rep. Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, told Lutnick they were investigating approvals of Nvidia chip sales.[1] Their inquiry covers sales to companies with links to the Chinese government, military and sanctioned entities.[1]
Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, said Congress needed to investigate the department’s role in approving the exports.[1] He added that he had confidence in Lutnick.[1]
Warren and Sen. Chris Coons said in a joint letter published Wednesday that all documents on Nvidia chip exports to China must be preserved.[1] The Boston Report covered that letter in an earlier story on Megaspeed and the export records.
How the scandal reached Congress
Huang resigned Thursday.[1] Nvidia named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim chief executive.[2]
Huang has acknowledged an affair with an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company.[1] Megaspeed bought more than $4.8 billion of advanced Nvidia AI chips over the past two years.[1]
The executive has been suspected of being an intelligence asset for China, the BBC reported, citing The New York Times.[2] China has rejected that allegation as a smear.[2] Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday that the Justice Department had not drawn any conclusions about whether she engaged in espionage.[2]
Nvidia has said it has “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.”[2] The company lost $550 billion in stock market value in five days, the BBC reported.[2]
What happens next
A personal representative of Huang declined to comment Thursday.[2] Nvidia officials have repeatedly declined to comment since Wednesday.[2]
The House committees asked for their closed-door interview on Dec. 1.[2] The requested Senate hearings would follow on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10.[1]
For more coverage, see the Business News hub and The Boston Report’s guide to AI companies.
Sources
- CNBC: Nvidia scandal draws in Commerce Secretary Lutnick, who reportedly agrees to testify about China chip sales
- BBC News: Ex-Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang summoned to testify before Congress about affair with alleged Chinese spy
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