Democrats open inquiry into Nvidia chip exports to China

Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal have opened a congressional inquiry into the Trump administration’s approval of Nvidia H200 chip sales to China, asking Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to preserve records and explain the export process.

In a letter dated November 12, the Democrats questioned whether the approvals followed intelligence warnings about Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s former chief executive, and his relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed. U.S. officials have reportedly suspected Alice Huang of acting for China, and Megaspeed of helping route advanced chips into China. Those allegations have not been independently established in the reporting.

The lawmakers’ letter also alleges that President Donald Trump approved the sales after Nvidia and Jensen Huang directed at least $26 million to Trump projects, including a White House ballroom. It asks whether the donations affected the approvals. The supplied reporting does not establish that they did or that an exchange of favors occurred.

Under the H200 arrangement described in the letter, chips made in Taiwan had to enter the United States for security review and licensing before being...