Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick received a highly classified memo warning about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with suspected Chinese intelligence operative Alice Huang, Axios reported Tuesday, as the export-control agency cleared advanced Nvidia chip sales to China-affiliated entities. Staff at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security also flagged the risk of Nvidia’s advanced chips being diverted to China in “dozens” of reports over recent months, but Lutnick and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler rebuffed requests from junior officials to pursue the issue and take on Nvidia, Politico reported.
The Commerce Department halted its chip-smuggling investigation into Singapore-based Megaspeed, where Alice Huang was an executive, and transferred the case to the Justice Department last year after Nvidia General Counsel Tim Teter contacted Kessler about the inquiry and her detention in Singapore. Former National Security Council official Chris McGuire called it “beyond inappropriate” for Commerce leadership to discuss an ongoing law enforcement investigation with Nvidia’s top lawyer while leaving Megaspeed eligible to receive AI chips.
