A US senator has requested that the Trump administration clarify its handling of a national security investigation into Megaspeed, a Singapore-based firm accused of ties to Chinese interests. Senator Ben Bennet has set a deadline of Nov 24 for officials, including Howard Lutnick and Marco Rubio, to provide information on whether the Department of Justice is probing the company and whether the Commerce Department will block its purchase of Nvidia chips or add it to the trade blacklist.
The demand for transparency comes after reports that the Commerce Department spent 2 months delaying new additions to its Entity List, leaving Megaspeed off despite calls from the State, Treasury, Energy and Pentagon departments. While those agencies cited risks involving the smuggling of AI chips into China, the NY Post reported that the probe into Megaspeed was suspended following communications between Nvidia and a senior Commerce official.