Three US Committees Ask Huang to Appear on December 1 Amid Concerns Over Chip Exports
Key Facts
On November 12, the chairs of three US House committees requested that Jensen Huang, Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter and Commerce Department Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler appear before Congress. The request came in letters sent by China Committee Chair John Moolenaar, Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast and Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford. The committees asked Huang to attend a closed-door interview on December 1. Huang is the company’s former CEO following his resignation, while Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress was appointed interim CEO. The move puts AI chip exports to China and national security concerns at the center of lawmakers’ scrutiny of the company and trade officials.
The committee chairs said the Foreign Affairs Committee would issue a subpoena if Huang did not accept the interview request by Friday evening. His appearance therefore remains contingent on accepting the request, with legal action possible if he declines. The committees also requested appearances by Teter and Kessler, though the statement did not specify dates for them. Separately, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick voluntarily agreed to appear before the Senate Banking Committee to answer its questions. A spokesperson for Lutnick said he "proactively agreed to voluntarily appear before the Banking Committee to answer its questions."
The committees’ request coincided with lawmakers’ calls for answers about security risks tied to the case. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Congress "must demand answers from Mr. Huang and others at Nvidia about how they may have endangered US national security." House Speaker Mike Johnson said there was growing consensus in Congress to limit chip exports to China. Three bills concerning oversight and tracking of chip exports and restrictions on chipmaking equipment were being considered for possible inclusion in the fiscal year 2027 defense authorization bill. Reuters reported that the Foreign Affairs Committee advanced the three bills and that they were included in the Senate bill’s manager’s package.
The concerns are tied to an investigation into the possibility that Nvidia chips reached China through Megaspeed, but publicly available sources do not substantiate the specific allegation involving H200 chips or their reaching entities linked to the Chinese military. Singaporean authorities said their investigation covered the possible purchase of servers and their export through Singapore to Malaysia, followed by their diversion to a final destination different from the one declared. Authorities questioned Alice Huang and seized her passport in 2025 as part of the investigation, then returned it in February 2026 after concluding there was insufficient evidence that she had committed offenses, while warning her and barring her from returning. Megaspeed said it had cooperated with the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security and hired a US law firm to conduct a comprehensive inventory of its chips and verify export controls. Nvidia said its board saw no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised, and that its investigation would examine the available information.
The steps follow an earlier request on November 4 by three Republican lawmakers for a closed-door briefing from Huang about a report on alleged ties to a Chinese businesswoman. Reuters said Washington had spent years trying to restrict China’s access to Nvidia chips on national security grounds, and that the case had renewed questions about the adequacy of export controls. In trading, Nvidia shares fell 14% on Thursday, November 12, following Huang’s resignation, according to the Associated Press. The stock closed at $166.19 in the same session. The company is scheduled to report its financial results on the Tuesday after the Associated Press report published on November 12.