Congress Seeks Briefing From Huang on Nov. 18 Amid Security Concerns Over Nvidia

Key Facts

Three chairmen of U.S. House committees asked Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang to attend a joint closed-door briefing on Nov. 18, 2026, on security concerns involving China’s access to sensitive U.S. technology and information. The request was made in a letter dated Nov. 4, and lawmakers asked Huang to confirm the date or propose an alternative by Nov. 11. The letter was signed by Brian Mast, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee; John Moolenaar, chairman of the Select Committee on China; and Eric Crawford, chairman of the Intelligence Committee. The Foreign Affairs Committee said the briefing should address Nvidia’s defenses against foreign espionage. The letter said recent reports raise “serious national security concerns” about the People’s Republic of China’s access to sensitive U.S. technology and information.

The request follows reports about Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, one of Nvidia’s customers. Axios reported that U.S. officials believe Alice Huang was recruited by China’s main intelligence agency to gather information and perhaps influence Nvidia’s efforts to expand sales of advanced chips to China. This information remains allegations reported by Axios citing U.S. officials, while the briefing request did not accuse Huang or the company of wrongdoing. Axios reported there is no public evidence that the relationship affected Huang’s support for selling chips to China. The stated request therefore centers on concerns about access to information and the company’s security controls, while any effect on its commercial position remains unsubstantiated publicly.

Nvidia said Huang speaks each year with thousands of customer officials, and that cloud-computing customers in the region receive ordinary business information, not sensitive trade secrets or information related to U.S. national security. After Huang acknowledged a personal relationship with an executive at another company, Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation into the matter. The company said the board “has no reason to believe” that national security or Nvidia secrets had been compromised, as it continues to examine the information available. Huang will remain chief executive during the investigation. The Associated Press quoted a company spokesperson as saying Huang is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia “without interruption.”

The scrutiny weighed on the company’s shares in trading on Nov. 9, which fell slightly more than 4% before the market opened, according to Reuters. The Associated Press said the stock fell 8% at the opening bell. The last close recorded in EL7 data before the session, on Nov. 6, was $186.64 a share. The decline coincided with Huang’s future at the company coming into focus amid the internal investigation, Reuters reported. The moves reflect the market’s response during the session, while the briefing request itself does not announce a change to chip export rules.

China’s Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations, calling the espionage claims “unsubstantiated” and “nothing but a smear of China,” according to the Associated Press. U.S. President Donald Trump praised Huang on Sunday and said he hoped things would be all right; when asked about intelligence information, he called him an honest man and said he might have an excuse. The agency also reported that the two questions are whether Huang knew of any espionage activity and whether confidential or strategically significant information had been compromised. The board, meanwhile, says it currently sees no reason to believe a breach occurred, but is continuing its investigation into the available information. Huang is due to respond on the briefing date or propose an alternative by Nov. 11, ahead of the requested session on Nov. 18.

The briefing request comes as exports of some advanced chips to China are subject to a U.S. policy that reviews license applications case by case. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said the review covers Nvidia’s H200 chips, AMD’s MI325X chips and similar chips, if they meet specific security requirements. Conditions include maintaining available production capacity for U.S. customers, requiring the Chinese buyer to have compliance procedures, including customer screening, and subjecting chip performance and security to independent testing in the United States. In its latest disclosure, Nvidia said H200 shipments to China under the licensing program amounted to only a portion of the permitted volumes and represented less than 1% of data-center revenue in the latest quarter. It added that shipments under the program are subject to U.S. inspection before dispatch and a 25% tariff when imported into the United States. The company also recorded a charge of $0.4 billion in the first half of fiscal 2027 on excess H200 inventory and purchase commitments as demand declined.