Warren Seeks Answers on Espionage Probe and $4.8 Billion Chip Sales
Key Facts
In a statement issued on October 29, 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren said Jensen Huang and Nvidia’s board of directors “owe Congress answers” following reports of a U.S. investigation involving a former Megaspeed executive. The statement said new reports indicated that Huang had been targeted by a suspected Chinese spy. According to a Reuters report, the investigation concerns a former executive suspected of spying for China, providing information to the Chinese government and helping evade chip export restrictions. Warren said the Singaporean company sold at least $4.8 billion worth of advanced AI chips, according to the reports cited in her statement. The wording made clear that the allegation targets the former executive and does not establish Huang’s involvement in intelligence activity.
Huang defended Nvidia’s dealings with Megaspeed International, describing them as “normal and unsurprising,” according to a Reuters report citing Bloomberg. He said the company had verified that Megaspeed did not illegally divert its chips to China. He added that Nvidia reviewed deployments of its graphics processing units, saying: “We studied all our unit deployments and counted each one.” He also said his dealings with the executive were similar to his dealings with Chinese customers and executives. She no longer works for Megaspeed, Reuters reported.
Other reports detail purchases linked to Megaspeed. A report cited by Investing.com, drawing on trade records, said the company’s Malaysian subsidiary bought AI equipment containing Nvidia chips worth at least $4.8 billion between June 2024 and February 2026. That figure refers to equipment bought by the subsidiary, while Warren’s statement described the amount as sales of advanced chips by the Singaporean company. Nvidia said in a response cited by Investing.com that its dealings with Alice Huang were ordinary business transactions. It added that customers such as Megaspeed do not receive sensitive trade secrets or national security information. The allegations, according to the report, have not established that Jensen Huang knowingly helped Chinese intelligence or shared classified information with Alice Huang.
The case comes amid broader U.S. scrutiny of chip export controls. Warren said she called on Nvidia’s board in June to investigate the company’s compliance with U.S. export control laws. She had also called on Huang to testify at a public hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on AI, the company’s business in China and export controls, and scheduled the hearing for June 11, 2026. In her latest statement, she said Congress needs to pass bipartisan legislation to stop advanced U.S. technology from reaching China. She added that the bill was “ready,” without the statement specifying when it would be considered or passed.
The Investing.com report also discussed the possibility of tightening rules governing overseas data centers that provide computing capacity to Chinese companies, saying the Trump administration was considering the option. That could bring renewed scrutiny of Nvidia’s customer screening procedures and the effectiveness of export restrictions, according to the report. In a separate case, the U.S. Justice Department said an indictment alleged that defendants conspired between September 2023 and November 2025 to smuggle advanced graphics processing units to China through Malaysia and Thailand. The department added that the first two exports in that case delivered 400 Nvidia A100 processors to China between October 2024 and January 2025, while authorities stopped two later attempts. The separate case does not link Megaspeed to the ongoing investigation.
Nvidia closed at $213.66 a share on October 29, 2026, according to EL7 data. The closing price came on the day of Warren’s statement, but on its own does not establish the investigation’s or remarks’ effect on the stock. The report did not include verified closing prices for the company’s competitors, so this coverage contains no comparison prices. Potential political developments include passage of the legislation Warren said was ready, while the U.S. administration considers possible rules for overseas data centers. Warren’s statement did not set a timeline for introducing or passing the legislation.