Scoop: Commerce Department received national security warning on Nvidia CEO affair
Scrutiny intensified over the extent of the Trump administration’s knowledge of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, a scandal that comes just a week before a superpower summit.
Key points
- Top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs committee have also demanded answers from Lutnick about the administration's chip approvals, "including to companies with concerning links to China and amid alarming reports of potential Chinese intelligence ties to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.".
- US President Donald Trump was told in May, while en route to China, that Washington had intelligence of Huang’s extramarital affair with the Chinese executive, The New York Times reported, while Axios said Trump’s commerce secretary was sent a memo warning about the affair.
- Catch up quick: Nvidia has been rocked by the scandal, losing about $1 trillion in market value since the Times' first reported the relationship, although some of that decline also came after an overwhelming number of Democrats promising to slow an AI data-center buildout were elected in the midterms.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was sent a highly classified memo warning about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang, multiple sources familiar told Axios.
A US lawmaker will today press the White House for updates on its investigations into the firm.
Additional details
- Nvidia disclosed in February it had received an H200 export license, and Huang told Axios' Ina Fried in March the company had licenses covering Chinese customers.
- The warning raises questions about how the department weighed potential security risks as it cleared advanced Nvidia chip sales to China-affiliated entities.
- What to watch: New revelations continue to drop almost daily about the administration's handling of the Nvidia CEO's relationship.
- Megaspeed purchased billions of dollars' worth of Nvidia chips, according to multiple media outlets.
- Huang acknowledged an affair Sunday, and Nvidia's board announced an independent investigation.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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