Nov 11 (Reuters) – Senior US Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked the Trump administration to preserve all documents tied to Nvidia’s chip exports to China, amid growing scrutiny over CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
Nvidia’s board is meeting late on Wednesday to decide whether to oust Huang, a person familiar with the matter said, after media reports alleged he had a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who passed information to Beijing.
“This incident raises significant concerns about the federal government’s ability to effectively enforce our export controls and protect our national security,” the senators said in the letter sent to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller.
The controversy escalated on several fronts this week as allegations emerged that Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang aided at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to China and that Rubio had previously briefed President Donald Trump on the affair. Many of Nvidia’s most advanced chips are subject to US export restrictions to protect the country’s dominance in the critical sector.
“Questions also remain regarding whether or not prudent defensive counter-intelligence action was taken or national security recommendations were overruled,” the senators said.
Warren and Coons also requested a congressional briefing on the national security risks posed by the suspected intelligence operation.
The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the letter.
(Reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York, Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City and Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast.)
