Four US agencies backed Megaspeed listing months ago, Bessent criticizes Commerce delay

Key Facts

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with CNBC on Friday morning that four parts of the administration had backed adding Megaspeed to the Entity List months ago. He said they were the Treasury, War and State departments and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He added that the "pen" was with the Commerce Department, meaning it was handling the matter. He told the Associated Press he was frustrated by the department's delay in implementing controls on exports of some Nvidia chips to China. The remarks put the listing decision and the delayed controls at the center of an administration dispute over how to deal with the company.

Bessent linked his frustration to President Donald Trump's position on chips permitted to reach China. He said Trump had made clear that China should not receive Nvidia chips more advanced than the H100 model. Bessent added, according to the agency, that the Commerce Department had the pen on the matter. He had said that questions about the department's internal procedures should be directed to it. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Axios, leaving its position on the remarks unavailable in published reports.

In Malaysia, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry is working with customs officials to determine whether chips imported by Megaspeed's local unit, Speedmatrix, were re-exported. The ministry said Speedmatrix imported servers and artificial intelligence chips as a data center tenant. The review includes determining whether re-exports took place and whether the shipments complied with the law, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his country would cooperate with any investigation. He added that Malaysia had received no request for assistance from Singapore or the United States, and that there were no indications that chips linked to Megaspeed had been shipped from Malaysia.

The movement of high-performance U.S. artificial intelligence chips through Malaysia has been subject to export controls since July 2025. The rules require a trade permit to re-export, transship or transit these chips. Determining the route taken by Speedmatrix's chips is part of Malaysia's ongoing review, while the ministry said it was examining the legality of any re-exported shipments. The measures broaden the case to the movement of chips through Asian supply chains. The Malaysian prime minister has not announced evidence that chips linked to the company left his country.

The company's chip purchases add financial scale to the scrutiny it faces. A letter from two senators said Megaspeed had bought more than $4.8 billion of Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence chips since June 2024. The figure also appeared in a statement by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons about their records preservation request. The letter asked that documents related to investigations and the possible diversion of chips be preserved, including records of inventory checks in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and other countries. It also covered records concerning the Commerce Department's transfer, suspension or termination of its investigation.

Warren and Coons asked the relevant agencies to provide written confirmation by November 17 that records preservation instructions had been distributed to their offices. They also asked that members of Congress be briefed on the security risks associated with the operation described in reports. The records request covers investigations and inventory-check records in several countries, according to the letter. Separately, Senator Michael Bennet asked officials at the Commerce, Justice and State departments to provide information about the investigation and possible actions against Megaspeed by November 24, 2026. He is asking the administration, among other things, to clarify the course of the investigation and steps it may take concerning the company.

Megaspeed denied there was evidence that the chips at the center of the allegations had been exported to China, the Associated Press reported, citing a company statement in December. The company said on Thursday that it takes its obligations to comply with U.S. export control laws "very seriously." It added that it was committed to working with the U.S. government "constructively and transparently." Allegations of chip diversion remain at the center of investigations being pursued by U.S. and Malaysian authorities. The company's statement cited by the agency did not acknowledge that such exports had taken place.

Closing-price data showed Nvidia ended the November 12 session at $166.19, compared with $186.64 on November 6. The comparison reflects a change between two separate closes, without identifying the reason for the price movement. The stock's performance comes as government statements, the Malaysian investigation and congressional requests focus on chip export restrictions and their possible routes. Upcoming dates cited in senators' requests include November 17 for confirmation of records preservation and November 24 for information about the investigation and possible actions. Attention will turn to government agencies' responses to the requests and the results of Malaysia's review of Speedmatrix shipments.