US Treasury chief wants answers soon from Nvidia

ملخص مفصل

Nvidia faces fresh scrutiny over claims its most advanced AI chips reached China via Southeast Asia, with a Justice Department criminal probe under way.

Nvidia faces fresh scrutiny over claims its most advanced AI chips reached China via Southeast Asia, with a Justice Department criminal probe under way.

WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on Nvidia Sunday (Nov 15) to explain whether it knowingly allowed its most advanced AI chips to reach China, saying this was more important than ex-CEO Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged spy for Beijing.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday Morning Futures" three days after Huang resigned, Bessent said he wants to know if Nvidia used shell companies to dodge US restrictions and sell its most powerful chips to China.

The United States forbids sales to China of the most cutting-edge AI chips, hoping to stay ahead of the Chinese in the race to dominate artificial intelligence.

In late 2025, President Donald Trump did authorize sales of Nvidia chips called H200s to the Chinese -- but not the most advanced chips used to run AI models reshaping modern society.

"What's more important here," he said, "is to examine whether Nvidia had a culture of compliance around the US export restrictions."

He alluded to companies linked to Megaspeed, the Singapore-based data center company that Huang's alleged lover Alice Huang once worked for.

"And who knew? Because I mean, these shell companies were obvious. They were being investigated. And did Nvidia use them as a workaround to sell chips to the Chinese?"

Of Alice Huang he said: "It doesn't matter to me whether she's a spy or not. You know, Jensen's foibles are his foibles."

مطلع المقال، مقتطف من CNA. لقراءة المقال كاملًا، افتحه على موقع الناشر.