US Treasury chief wants answers soon from Nvidia

Resumen detallado

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

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

WASHINGTON: United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on Nvidia on Sunday (Nov 15) to explain whether it knowingly allowed its most advanced artificial intelligence 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 US forbids sales to China of the most cutting-edge AI chips, hoping to stay ahead of the Chinese in the race to dominate AI.

In late 2025, President Donald Trump did authorise 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."

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