Lutnick criticized for allowing AI chip shipments to China as Nvidia crisis widens

Detailed summary

Lawmakers question why Trump administration refused to tighten export controls

A growing number of lawmakers are criticizing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over the administration’s refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies to a key U.S. trade blacklist, and over whether the government was properly overseeing Nvidia’s exports to China.

Criticism of Lutnick’s actions predates Thursday’s resignation of Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, who announced he would step down as CEO of the leading AI chipmaker after revelations of an affair with Alice Huang, who U.S. authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. But the charge that Lutnick has not done enough to restrict AI chip shipments to China has bubbled up as the fallout of Huang’s actions grows.

“Secretary Howard Lutnick and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler must explain why they have not closed export control loopholes and act today to ensure our advanced technology is not fueling China’s military,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat.

U.S. lawmakers push to curtail China’s access to AI chips in response to Nvidia scandal

Warren, who will chair the Senate Banking Committee starting in January, and incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Chris Coons wrote to Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, telling the administration to preserve all documents related to Nvidia’s exports of advanced AI chips to China and related national security risks.

The senators cited reports of Jensen Huang’s personal relationship with Alice Huang, an executive of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that has purchased more than US$4.8-billion in advanced Nvidia AI chips since June 2024.

How Alice Huang, the Chinese businesswoman tied to Nvidia’s CEO, went from finance to chips

Nvidia’s Huang supported more exports to China, despite repeated calls from China hawks in both parties to crack down on Beijing’s access to the technology.

A White House official said President Donald Trump “maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the…

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