Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Summoned by Congress Over Alleged Chinese Espionage Concerns

Top Republican lawmakers have summoned Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, to appear before Congress to address concerns that US intelligence officials believe he has been targeted by a Chinese spying operation. The chairs of the House committees on China, foreign affairs, and intelligence collectively wrote to Huang this week, requesting his presence at a joint closed-door briefing scheduled for November 18.

The concerns, first reported by The New York Times last week, center on a Chinese woman named Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based cloud company that has purchased billions of dollars of Nvidia’s chips. Representatives John Moolenaar, Brian Mast, and Rick Crawford stated that "recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding the People’s Republic of China’s access to sensitive US technology and information." They added that "the issue of PRC infiltration and access to cutting-edge US technology is core to the investigative work of our three committees," emphasizing the need to determine the extent of risk to US national security.

Nvidia has rejected these claims, with the company declining to confirm if Huang would attend the congressional briefing. Nvidia stated that "meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job" and that "Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year," adding that "regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information—not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets—and zero information relevant to national security." The lawmakers are seeking details on Nvidia's security protocols against "foreign adversary espionage," to which Nvidia responded that its CEO has an "outstanding security team." The New York Times noted that Huang had not received a "defensive briefing," typically provided to potential espionage targets, though Nvidia expressed confidence the US government would inform them of any threats and that they often receive updates from Washington. Megaspeed, a 2023 spin-off from a Chinese gaming company, was previously scrutinized by the US for potential chip smuggling without charges. Nvidia conducted unannounced on-site inspections at Megaspeed in Singapore, finding no evidence of chips being diverted to China. However, Nvidia’s supply chain faces increasing scrutiny due to US export controls and chip smuggling, highlighted by the arrest of Wally Liaw, a Supermicro co-founder and Nvidia partner, earlier this year on charges of smuggling Nvidia chips into China, which he denies.

What to watch: Jensen Huang's decision on appearing before Congress and further details from the November 18 briefing.

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