House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast left the door open to subpoenaing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to secure a congressional briefing, Politico reported. The possibility adds to pressure from Republicans seeking answers about the chipmaker’s security safeguards.
A November 4 letter signed by Mast, China Committee Chair John Moolenaar and Intelligence Chair Rick Crawford sought details about Nvidia’s protections against espionage and Huang’s contacts with businesswoman Alice Huang, whom the letter described as a reported Chinese intelligence asset.
The chairs proposed a joint, closed-door briefing on November 18 and asked Huang to accept that date or offer another by November 11. The letter contains no subpoena, and Politico did not report that one had been issued.
Nvidia’s board announced an independent inquiry on November 8, overseen by independent directors with outside counsel. It expressed confidence in Huang and said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised. The intelligence allegations remain disputed. On November 10, independent directors said they had retained former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation.
The company also faces a shareholder lawsuit filed on November 9 over alleged disclosure failures; those claims remain unproven. Nvidia is scheduled to report results on November 17, one day before the proposed congressional briefing.
