By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) – US House of Representatives Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday that Congress needs more answers after reports emerged that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort.
Jeffries also called for the House to pass an annual defense bill that includes restrictions on chip sales to China that are included in a bill now before the US Senate.
“Clearly Congress needs more information,” about what happened at Nvidia, Jeffries said, adding that there are “real concerns that need to be addressed with respect to the Nvidia situation.”
Jeffries said a classified briefing for congressional leaders on Monday with CIA director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton briefly discussed Nvidia but mostly focused on Iran. “We’re going to need a full briefing specifically as it relates to the Nvidia situation so we can all get to the bottom of what has happened,” Jeffries said.
The internal Nvidia probe followed a media report that Huang had a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who allegedly passed information to Beijing. Huang told Nvidia’s employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife, without disclosing details of the relationship.
A Senate version of the defense bill contains provisions to give Congress more authority on AI chips going to China, prodding US allies to restrict sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China and requiring businesses to track their AI chips abroad to combat smuggling.
Jeffries said he “strongly supports” restrictions on sales of US chips to China in the final version of the annual defense bill.
It was unclear whether Jeffries planned to disband the China select committee or create a special committee on AI policy.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)
