Republican Senator Says Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Must Resign Over China Spy Allegations, Calls It a National Security Threat

• A Republican U.S. senator and a former White House NEC director publicly called for Huang's resignation from Nvidia.
• The report said concerns are growing over U.S. national security and supplies of Nvidia semiconductors amid allegations of Huang's links to a Chinese spy.
• The Senate Banking Committee is intensifying discussions on bills restricting advanced semiconductor exports to China, including the AI OVERWATCH Act, Chip Security Act and MATCH Act.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

Calls are mounting within the Republican Party for Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang to step down as allegations spread that he was involved with a suspected Chinese spy.

Politico reported on November 10 that Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, urged Huang to resign over allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence. Cramer argued that Huang’s conduct could pose a national security risk because he leads the world’s largest artificial intelligence semiconductor company.

“The potential for blackmail is simply too high,” Cramer said. Given Nvidia’s involvement in sensitive matters such as semiconductors, Huang should step down, he added.

Cramer said the issue would remain serious even if it were not certain the woman was a Chinese spy. An extramarital affair alone would be enough, he said, because the security risk lies in the possibility of other issues the public does not know about.

The controversy intensified after The New York Times reported in October that U.S. authorities viewed businesswoman Alice Huang, who was said to have had a close relationship with Huang, as a collaborator with Chinese intelligence services. Alice Huang is linked to Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed and has been accused of involvement in the flow of Nvidia’s advanced chips into China.

The Senate Banking Committee, where Cramer serves, is discussing legislation that would restrict exports of advanced semiconductors to China. Lawmakers are considering whether to include three bills — the AI OVERWATCH Act, the Chip Security Act and the MATCH Act — in the year-end National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. The allegations surrounding Huang have also added momentum to efforts to tighten related regulations.

Larry Kudlow, who served as director of the White House National Economic Council during Donald Trump’s administration, had earlier also called for Huang to resign. On Fox Business, Kudlow said Huang “should step down immediately” and called the move “common sense.”

Nvidia’s board said over the weekend that it had launched an independent investigation into allegations that Huang had been targeted by Chinese intelligence. The review is being conducted by a committee of outside directors with external legal counsel. Cramer said an internal investigation was acceptable, but “nowhere near sufficient,” and renewed his call for Huang to step down.

Suehyeon Lee