House Republicans threaten subpoenas for Nvidia's CEO amid alleged spy-linked affair

What Congress wants from Nvidia's chief

Pressure on Jensen Huang escalated as two senior House Republicans said they are ready to compel his testimony. John Moolenaar, who leads a House committee focused on China, said Huang must respond by the close of business Wednesday to a request for a private briefing or offer another date.

Appearing on Fox Business, Moolenaar said subpoenas are likely should Huang refuse the private briefing or fail to propose another date. At the Capitol, Brian Mast told reporters that the Foreign Affairs Committee has a subpoena readying for Huang and intends to dispatch it if he does not respond. Last week, Moolenaar, Mast and House Intelligence Chair Rick Crawford asked Huang to attend a joint closed-door meeting on Nvidia's security protocols.

The relationship, Megaspeed and Nvidia's response

The request gained urgency following reports that Huang was romantically involved with Alice Huang; according to the New York Times, U.S. officials suspected she was a Chinese spy. Alice Huang held an executive role at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based firm that originated from a Chinese gaming enterprise. Bloomberg has reported the data center company is Nvidia's largest Southeast Asian customer and has been the subject of a U.S. probe for months over potential chip smuggling. Both Megaspeed and Nvidia have denied wrongdoing.

Politics, policy and the market move

Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, called Tuesday for Huang to resign.

Nvidia's shares fell roughly 10% over two days after the news, and Bloomberg reported the stock ranked as the second worst in the S&P 500 Index during that period. The shares then climbed back by more than 4% Wednesday as the broader market rallied.

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Export controls back in the spotlight

The revelations also added momentum in Congress to attach chip export control measures to defense policy legislation that needs to be enacted before year end. Mast said he is optimistic those controls will be included, adding, "We're in the exact place we want to be." On Fox Business, Moolenaar said Nvidia has "lost a lot of credibility" in the debate over how restrictive advanced AI chip export rules should be and added there is a "growing consensus that we need export control legislation within our National Defense Authorization Act."

The bottom line: subpoenas on the table, a board review underway, and a potential tightening of export rules all feed into Nvidia's risk profile - and into how investors handicap the AI supply chain.

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