Republicans recoil over Nvidia CEO spy allegations as feds investigate: ‘I lost my breath’

Senate Republicans pressed for answers Tuesday over allegations that Chinese intelligence targeted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, raising questions about who in the Trump administration knew of the suspected operation, whether the FBI should have warned Huang, and how federal officials vetted Chinese companies cleared to handle Nvidia’s advanced chips.“I lost my breath,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told the Washington Examiner on Capitol Hill when asked about the allegations. “And they need to be investigated by Justice, FBI, CIA, Congress. We need to find out.”The New York Times reported Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One in May, shortly before Huang joined the president’s delegation during a refueling stop in Alaska en route to China. It was at least the second time Trump had been told about the intelligence, according to the outlet. Trump said Monday that he did not know about the relationship at the time of the trip, and the White House disputed the New York Times’s account. Huang has acknowledged a romantic relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed whom U.S. officials concluded was working for China’s Ministry of State Security, according to the New York Times. China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the espionage allegation on Monday. Trump said Huang told him he had been unaware of the alleged intelligence ties.Megaspeed had drawn public scrutiny months before Jensen Huang acknowledged the relationship. In a May 13 thread on X, Culper Research said it believed Nvidia had “a significant China problem,” alleging that advanced Nvidia chips were reaching China through Southeast Asian intermediaries and pointing to Megaspeed as part of that network. Culper disclosed that it held a short position in Nvidia, meaning it stood to profit if the stock fell.Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is leaving the Senate in January, said the reported intelligence should have prompted the FBI to warn Huang directly in what’s known as a defensive briefing.“You tell the target of the intelligence operation, ‘Hey, this is not an innocent interaction.’ This is a nation-state spying on you and on our country,’” Cornyn said.Whether the bureau warned Huang or determined that sensitive information was exposed remains unclear. The Washington Examiner previously reported that the FBI is investigating the matter. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.Stuart Kaplan, who served nearly 11 years as an FBI agent, told the Washington Examiner that investigators in a case like this would look at whom a suspected operative could reach through the relationship, including whether it opened a path to government officials or sensitive technology.Kaplan said the priority would be to figure out “what, if anything, has been compromised” and whether investigators can contain the damage. He said the FBI sometimes keeps a counterintelligence inquiry out of public view so it can continue gathering intelligence, and some inquiries never result in criminal charges.Cornyn also called for investigators to determine who signed off on companies cleared to handle Nvidia’s chips. The New York Times reported over the weekend that the Commerce Department approved roughly two dozen Chinese firms to buy or handle H200 chips, including some with ties to blacklisted companies or Chinese military suppliers. One firm’s listed office was vacant when a New York Times reporter visited. The department said it reviews all applications for national security risks.Nvidia said Tuesday that independent members of its board retained Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to conduct the inquiry the board announced Sunday. The board said Sunday it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised.Republican lawmakers have asked Huang to appear for a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18 about his interactions with Alice Huang and Nvidia’s safeguards against foreign espionage. In a brief statement to the Washington Examiner in the Senate Press Gallery, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said he expected Nvidia to investigate and put the matter lower on his list of Senate priorities.Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said earlier on Tuesday he was prepared to take up the matter through the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, as his party prepares to regain oversight command and subpoena powers.NVIDIA TAPS FORMER ACTING US ATTORNEY TO INVESTIGATE CEO JENSEN HUANGAsked whether his broader oversight of White House ballroom donors would include Huang, Blumenthal said the executive’s contributions warranted scrutiny and argued that private donors had no claim to executive privilege over their dealings with the administration.“There absolutely must be a Senate investigation,” Blumenthal said.