Congress Moves to Subpoena Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Over Alleged Chinese Spy Affair as Cabinet Officials Clash on Chip Restrictions

House Republican Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House China committee, said Congress is prepared to subpoena Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Wednesday unless he responds to an earlier request to appear for a closed-door briefing. The briefing concerns Huang's admitted affair with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whom U.S. intelligence has assessed was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to gather information on the Nvidia CEO. Jensen Huang acknowledged the affair in a memo to employees, writing: "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did." Nvidia's board has launched an investigation and the company says it has no reason to believe company secrets or national security were compromised. China denies the espionage allegations.

The crisis has drawn in the Trump administration on multiple fronts. The New York Times and Axios report that Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a classified intelligence warning about Alice Huang to President Trump aboard Air Force One before Trump's May trip to China, contradicting Trump's claim this week that he was "amazed" by the allegations and knew nothing at the time. Trump proceeded with the May trip and continues to publicly defend Jensen Huang.

Separately, a classified memo warning about Huang's relationship with Alice Huang was sent to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Senator Michael Bennet has demanded answers from Lutnick, Lutnick's deputy Todd Blanche, Rubio, and SEC Chair Paul Clayton by November 24. Bennet's questions center on the Justice Department's probe into Megaspeed, whether Commerce will block Megaspeed's Nvidia chip purchases or place it on the Entity List, the closing of export loopholes via Southeast Asia, and what intelligence agencies know about the diversion of U.S. chips to China.

Inside the administration, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Lutnick last week over why Megaspeed had not been blacklisted despite intelligence warnings about chip diversion to China. Lutnick reportedly replied: "I don't know. I'll look into it." Sources say Lutnick resisted action out of concern over escalating the U.S.-China trade war. The standoff has drawn attention to the fact that the U.S. chip blacklist has not added a single new name in 13 months. The confrontation and subpoena threat come one week before the APEC leaders' summit in Shenzhen, where Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to meet. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi described a November 11 call with Rubio as "positive and constructive."

Nvidia shares fell sharply following the initial disclosures but rebounded roughly 5% on Wednesday, the first gain after two straight days of declines, as investors weighed the legal and national security risks facing the roughly 4 trillion dollar company.