WASHINGTON — Congressional committee leaders are asking Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang to appear behind closed doors following reports that an executive at a customer company was recruited by Chinese intelligence to target him, according to a letter sent to the chipmaker.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., requested Huang appear for an in-person joint briefing on Nov. 18. In their letter, reported by CNBC, the lawmakers wrote that determining the extent of any national security risk is essential to their committees’ investigative mandates.
Intelligence Memo Details Espionage Effort
The congressional inquiry follows reporting from The New York Times and The Financial Times disclosing that a U.S. intelligence memo circulated earlier this year warned that China’s Ministry of State Security had recruited Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. According to The New York Times, Beijing sought to gather information regarding American artificial intelligence strategy and attempted to influence decisions regarding exports of advanced semiconductors.
The Financial Times reported that the memo, derived from U.S. intelligence, also alleged that Jensen Huang had a romantic relationship with Alice Huang. The document was distributed to a small group of senior federal officials, and President Donald Trump was notified before traveling to Beijing earlier this year for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The president chose not to act on the information, and officials did not brief the Nvidia chief executive about being targeted, according to reporting cited by The New York Times and Engadget.
Photographs and video clips showing Jensen Huang alongside Alice Huang have circulated on social media, Yahoo reported. Alice Huang could not be reached for comment, according to news reports.
Nvidia Defends Customer Interactions
Nvidia did not confirm whether Jensen Huang would attend the Nov. 18 session, but a spokesperson told news organizations that his client meetings were standard for an industry leader.
“Meetings with customers are part of a CEO’s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement reported by CNBC. “Our regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information — not sensitive NVIDIA trade secrets — and zero information relevant to national security.”
The spokesperson added that the company was confident federal officials would notify it if any individual posed a threat to American industry, emphasizing that Nvidia sells “the first, best and most of our technology in America,” according to TechCrunch.
Scrutiny Over Semiconductor Exports
Megaspeed, which was spun off from a Chinese gaming company in 2023, has purchased billions of dollars worth of AI processors from Nvidia, Engadget reported. The firm constructed data centers across Southeast Asia and leased computing capacity to Alibaba, providing the Chinese conglomerate with access to advanced computing power restricted inside China. Megaspeed has also faced U.S. scrutiny over allegations of smuggling advanced chips into China; however, Nvidia stated an internal review uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing.
Jensen Huang has previously advocated for semiconductor sales, having lobbied Trump to allow shipments of H200 chips to customers in China. While initially omitted from the travel roster for Trump’s trip to China in May, Huang joined the delegation after a phone call from the president, flying to Alaska to board Air Force One, Yahoo reported. He later attended a September White House state dinner honoring Xi.
Lawmakers now want to review the company’s internal security measures and evaluate potential risks. Nvidia is scheduled to release its third-quarter financial results on Nov. 17, the day before the invited congressional appearance.
