Symbolic imageNvidia affair becomes government crisis as Bessent blames Commerce over Megaspeed
The Senate Banking Committee summoned ex-Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over suspected chip leaks to China. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Commerce failed to blacklist Megaspeed.
Committee chair Tim Scott cited national security on Thursday, 12 November, and threatened Huang with a subpoena if he does not testify voluntarily. Lutnick has agreed to appear in December, a Commerce spokesperson told NBC. House committee chairs separately asked Huang for closed hearings on 1 and 2 December. Reuters reports the White House is discussing whether Lutnick is still tenable.
Bessent points at Commerce
On Friday, Bessent told CNBC that he and other agencies favored blacklisting Megaspeed, but Commerce leads and should explain its internal processes. According to Axios, Lutnick has blocked such efforts for a year.
Singapore bars Alice Huang
Singapore said on Thursday it barred Alice Huang from re-entering after a Megaspeed probe over alleged false statements on server sales. Investigators check whether servers bought via Singapore went on from Malaysia to another destination. Police did not investigate her for espionage.
Nvidia seeks a successor
CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO while Nvidia searches for a replacement.