Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., is summoning former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Capitol Hill, as national security questions mount over whether America’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips ended up in Chinese hands.
“Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive US technology,” Scott wrote on X, adding, “I am requesting that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testify before the Senate Banking Committee.”
Scott asked Huang to appear publicly on Dec. 3 and Lutnick on Dec. 10, pointing to the Commerce Department’s “central role in issuing and enforcing export control regulations.” Scott has reportedly threatened to subpoena Huang if necessary.
Lutnick “proactively agreed to appear voluntarily,” his spokesperson told NBC News. The White House said President Trump “maintains complete confidence” in the Commerce secretary.
The scrutiny centers on Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company and major Nvidia customer that U.S. authorities suspect of secretly routing restricted Nvidia AI chips to China. Nvidia reportedly supplied Megaspeed with billions of dollars’ worth of technology.
Alice Huang, a former senior executive at Megaspeed, has been reported to be suspected by U.S. intelligence of working for China’s Ministry of State Security. Jensen Huang admitted on Sunday to an extramarital affair, reportedly with Alice Huang, and resigned Thursday after more than three decades leading the company. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday the Justice Department has not concluded whether Alice Huang was a spy, and Singapore said she was not investigated there for espionage.
The fallout has also put a spotlight on Lutnick. Axios reported that on at least three occasions over the past year, Lutnick resisted Trump’s push to tighten export controls on Megaspeed and other companies accused of chip smuggling, including after a classified memo about the Huang relationship reached the president and other officials in May.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared to point the finger at Commerce on CNBC, saying other agencies had favored adding Megaspeed to the government’s restricted Entity List for months, “but Commerce has the pen.”
Republicans have been pressing for answers. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News that Lutnick needs to testify “ASAP.” Asked on CNN whether Lutnick should lose his job, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said, “I don’t know yet.”
The House is also moving. Three Republican committee chairs requested a closed-door, transcribed interview with Huang on Dec. 1 under threat of subpoena, warning that “there are clear national security concerns that need to be addressed immediately.” Huang has since agreed to testify, according to Politico.
Washington has restricted sales of Nvidia’s most powerful chips to China to slow Beijing’s progress in artificial intelligence, a policy Huang has publicly challenged. Nvidia’s board has opened an independent inquiry.
Trump, asked whether Huang should have stepped down, said it would depend, but expressed confidence the tech titan will “end up on his feet.
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