Former Nvidia chief Jensen Huang summoned by US Congress over spy-linked affair
US Senate and House panels want to question Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick next month over national security and chip exports to China.
Former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has been asked to testify before the US Senate Banking Committee on 3 December about his alleged affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese intelligence asset, the BBC reported. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who faces scrutiny over exports of Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China, has also been summoned to appear before the committee in December.
Huang abruptly resigned on Thursday. Nvidia has named chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive while it looks for a permanent replacement. According to the BBC, the company has lost US$550 billion in stock market value in five days, its biggest five-day fall since it went public 27 years ago.
Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, sent letters to Huang and Lutnick on Thursday. "Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive US technology," he posted on X. The BBC said Scott asked Huang to appear voluntarily but warned the panel could issue a subpoena.
The woman at the centre of the case, Alice Huang, is no relation to the former Nvidia chief. She worked as an executive at the Singaporean firm Megaspeed. The New York Times reported she was suspected of being an intelligence asset for China, which has rejected the allegation as a smear. US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Thursday the Justice Department had not yet drawn any conclusions about whether she was spying for Beijing.
Huang admitted on Sunday to having been "unfaithful" to his wife. On Wednesday, US media reported a second relationship, with long-time Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell, who reported directly to him, the BBC said.
Lutnick's summons follows briefings by unnamed Trump administration officials to US media that he stalled efforts to tighten export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China. A Commerce Department spokesperson said he had "proactively" agreed to appear. The Japan Times, citing The New York Times, reported that President Donald Trump was told of the suspicions surrounding Huang last year.
The South China Morning Post reported growing momentum in Congress for new export control bills targeting China after the Democrats' takeover of Congress, with lawmakers using the Nvidia case to press for approval of three bills, including through the defence bill.
Nvidia has said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised" and that an independent inquiry would examine all available information. Company officials and a personal representative of Huang declined to comment. Three House committees, covering intelligence, foreign affairs and China, have separately called Huang to a closed-door interview on 1 December.
Sources: The Japan Times, U.S. Congress steps up scrutiny of Trump and Nvidia after Huang exit; The Economic Times, Spy row: US Congress steps up scrutiny of Trump; BBC News, Ex-Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang summoned to testify before Congress about affair with alleged Chinese spy; South China Morning Post, US lawmakers push for tougher China export controls in defence bill amid Nvidia scrutiny.
