US lawmakers push for tighter chip export controls on China as Jensen Huang resignation controversy grows

US lawmakers from both parties are stepping up efforts to tighten controls on advanced chip exports to China after former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang became embroiled in espionage suspicions over an extramarital affair and resigned. Their proposals include closing a loophole that allows Chinese companies to access restricted chips remotely through overseas data centres.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said on Thursday (12 November) that chip export controls on China had long been a major issue in Congress. He said he favoured limiting China’s access to advanced chips, adding: “I think there’s a developing consensus in Congress that is an important position to take.”

Nvidia’s advanced chips are widely used to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) models. The US has restricted exports of such chips to China for years to prevent the Chinese military from using the technology.

The Republican chairs of three House committees also issued a joint statement on Thursday, urging Congress to include four chip-control bills in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Three have already been included in the Senate version. They would expand congressional oversight of advanced chip export policy, require manufacturers to track where advanced chips go, and push US allies to restrict sales of advanced chipmaking equipment and related maintenance services to China.

The fourth, the Remote Access Security Act, would authorise the Commerce Department to restrict Chinese companies from remotely accessing controlled Nvidia chips by renting computing capacity at overseas data centres. The House passed the bill in January this year, but it is still awaiting Senate consideration.

Reuters reported that some Chinese AI companies, concerned that the controversy surrounding Huang could prompt Washington to tighten controls further, are rushing to rent computing capacity at overseas data centres equipped with Nvidia chips.

Besides pushing for tighter chip export controls, US lawmakers are calling for a thorough investigation into Huang’s extramarital affair and the potential national security risks.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that even though Huang had resigned, Congress must still require him and Nvidia to explain what risks the incident could pose to US national security. Congress must also ask what action the Donald J. Trump administration took after learning of Huang’s affair with Alice Huang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.

The Republican chairs of three House committees wrote to Jensen Huang again on Thursday, asking him to appear before Congress for closed-door questioning on 1 December and to confirm his attendance in writing by Friday (13 November). They said the committees would otherwise issue a subpoena.

Alice Huang previously held a senior executive role at Megaspeed International, a Singapore cloud computing services provider and Nvidia cloud computing partner. US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Thursday that the FBI was investigating allegations that she worked for the Chinese government, but that the Justice Department had not determined whether she was a spy.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in response on Friday that China had consistently opposed the abuse of export controls that disrupted the stability of global industrial and supply chains, as this served no party’s interests. She called on China and the US to jointly implement the important consensus reached by their leaders and maintain the stable development of bilateral economic and trade relations.

Separately, Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that federal prosecutors in Manhattan, New York, were investigating whether companies or organisations linked to Huang Le were involved in smuggling products made by US server manufacturer Super Micro Computer into China. The US Justice Department is also investigating whether Megaspeed International was involved in semiconductor smuggling.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said on Friday that it was working with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department to investigate whether AI chips imported by Speedmatrix, Megaspeed International’s Malaysian subsidiary, had been re-exported and whether the transactions complied with the law.

Since July last year, Malaysia has required prior approval from the authorities for the export, re-export or transit of high-performance US AI chips. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said there was currently no indication that AI chips linked to Megaspeed International had been moved out of Malaysia.