U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Rutnik attends an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on September 28, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee as the fallout from ousted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with a suspected Chinese spy intensifies.
Mr. Lutnick was subpoenaed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott amid intense scrutiny over whether Nvidia supplied advanced artificial intelligence chips to Chinese companies, thereby potentially threatening U.S. national security.
Mr. Huang and Mr. Lutnick received letters Thursday night asking them to testify at separate hearings on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10, respectively. The letter to Lutnick asked the Commerce Secretary to testify regarding “recent public reporting regarding the role of NVIDIA and the Department of Commerce that raises national security concerns.”
“Secretary Lutnick has affirmatively agreed to appear voluntarily to answer questions from the Banking Committee,” Kristen Eichamer, Lutnick’s spokeswoman, told NBC News on Thursday. CNBC has reached out to the Department of Commerce for comment.
The letter to Huang said reports of ties to suspected Chinese spies “raise serious national security concerns.”
Huang admitted to having an affair with an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that bought more than $4.8 billion in advanced Nvidia AI chips over the past two years. The scandal, along with other reports of an affair with a senior Nvidia executive, led to his resignation on Thursday.
There is growing bipartisan scrutiny of the Commerce Secretary’s approach to chip policy and whether he was doing enough to limit the supply of AI chips to China. Lawmakers also questioned whether the department had sufficiently thorough oversight of Nvidia’s exports.
Sen. Jim Banks appeared on Fox News Thursday and was particularly harsh in his criticism of Lutnick, saying, “It appears some of the chip sales were made through a loophole.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who will chair the Senate Banking Committee starting in January, said Thursday that “Secretary Howard Lutnick and Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler must act now to explain why they will not close export control loopholes and ensure that our advanced technology does not fuel China’s military might.”
Nvidia President and CEO Jensen Huang speaks on AI in the Return of American Manufacturing at the Hill and Valley Forum on April 30, 2025 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietch Getty Images
In a joint letter with incoming Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Chris Coons released Wednesday, it said all documentation related to exports of Nvidia chips to China must be preserved.
Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon. Representative Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts told Lutnick that he is investigating the approval of sales of NVIDIA chips to companies with ties to the Chinese government, military, and sanctioned entities.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida) said Thursday that Congress needs to investigate the Department of Commerce’s role in approving exports of AI chips to China, but added that he has confidence in Lutnick.
Reuters reported in June that President Donald Trump’s administration has come under growing criticism for refusing to include more than 100 companies on its trade blacklist that have been highlighted as national security risks, including Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and memory chip maker CXMT.
Lutnick is a longtime friend of President Trump’s, with a relationship spanning more than 30 years and is considered a close ally of the president.
