Congress Moves on China Chip Exports After Nvidia's Huang Resigns

Nvidia shares fell 3% in after-hours trading Thursday after Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive over an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a businesswoman whom US authorities suspect of spying for the Chinese government.

His exit removes the figure closest to Washington in the fight over Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China, and it lands in the middle of the loudest congressional push in years to close the export-control gap. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will testify voluntarily before the Senate Banking Committee on the scandal. Committee chair Tim Scott also asked Huang to appear.

Who is Alice Huang, and what is Megaspeed?

Alice Huang was a top executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based datacentre company that lists itself on its website as an Nvidia cloud partner in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past three years, Megaspeed has been one of Nvidia's biggest foreign customers, purchasing nearly $5bn in AI chips and advanced hardware.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said on Thursday that it barred Huang from re-entering the city-state. The ministry held her passport from June 2025 until February over "potential false declarations" related to Megaspeed, then released her with a stern warning. Singapore police said last October they were investigating Megaspeed over "suspected breaches of our domestic laws", after a US senator asked the Commerce Department to examine possible chip diversion. Taiwan's interior minister told lawmakers on Wednesday that Huang is also barred from entering the territory.

Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said it is investigating whether a local Megaspeed subsidiary re-exported chips brought into the country to other locations. MITI said it is working "closely" with authorities in Singapore and the United States and "is considering further measures to strengthen controls where necessary".

Then the footprint. The Straits Times reported that Swiftdata, which owns Megaspeed, lists a registered business address that an interior design firm says it has occupied for more than four years. The New York Times found only two employees at Megaspeed's Singapore headquarters last year. One Malaysian office was a dilapidated storefront in Kuala Lumpur; another sat inside a shopping mall, where an employee told a reporter: "It's not clear." Reuters traced corporate filings to a man in his twenties born in Shanghai, who is also a director of Megaspeed's Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai units. His mother, who runs a newsagent and lottery retailer in a regional town outside Melbourne, said he is based in Shanghai and has nothing to do with the Singaporean company.

What does the scandal change in Congress?

"The export controls on chips to China has been a big issue around here," US House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters at the Capitol, adding that he favoured limiting China's access to advanced technology. "I think there's a developing consensus in Congress that is an important position to take."

That consensus spans both parties. Republicans want to attach new restrictions on exporting advanced AI chips to China to the annual defence authorisation bill, a must-pass measure that funds the military and typically attracts bipartisan support, according to a Senate aide who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who will chair the Senate Banking Committee starting in January, said: "Secretary Howard Lutnick and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler must explain why they have not closed export control loopholes and act today to ensure our advanced technology is not fuelling China's military." She also wrote to Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller to preserve documents on Nvidia's exports and related national security risks.

Republican Senator Jim Banks said lawmakers have spent two years trying to stop America's "high-end computer chips from being exported to China", and said he hoped Huang would come and testify. Senator John Kennedy was blunter: "The obvious question is why did he choose to sell advanced chips?" Kennedy added: "If I were he, I'd call a press conference this afternoon and explain what happened and why he agreed to sell 'em chips, and I would stop doing it."

Senators Ron Wyden and Representative Richard Neal, the top Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, wrote to Lutnick on Thursday, saying they were investigating the administration's approval of sales to Chinese companies "with concerning links to the Chinese government, military, and sanctioned entities." They also questioned Trump's December 2025 decision to let Nvidia sell its advanced H200 AI chips to China in exchange for a cut of the export sales, which they called "an unconstitutional export tax".

Four bills are in play: the AI Overwatch Act would give Congress more power over advanced AI chip exports; the Chip Security Act would require companies to track the location of advanced AI processors to prevent smuggling; the Match Act would pressure US allies to restrict sales and maintenance of advanced chipmaking equipment destined for China; and the Remote Access Security Act would give the Commerce Department tools to stop Chinese firms renting overseas data centers to access Nvidia chips.

Where does Lutnick stand?

Scott requested that Lutnick testify "for a public hearing regarding recent public reports about Nvidia and the Department of Commerce's role that raises national security concerns". Lutnick's spokesperson, Kristen Eichamer, told NBC News: "Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the Banking Committee to address their questions."

The pressure has narrowed. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Lutnick has clashed with other Trump officials over how to regulate Nvidia chip sales, and has faced accusations from inside the administration that his department is "too cozy with Nvidia and its co-founder, Jensen Huang" and failed to "adequately police the firm's chip sales to China". White House officials were reportedly discussing whether he should leave the administration. A White House official said Thursday that Trump "maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position".

One policy gap drives the criticism. The US has posted no additions to its trade blacklist of Chinese national security risks since October 2025, the longest stretch between new postings in more than a decade. Reuters reported in June that the administration held off adding AI startup DeepSeek, memory chipmaker CXMT and more than 100 other flagged companies, for fear of escalating tensions.

Who runs Nvidia now?

Colette Kress, Nvidia's interim CEO, was one of the few executives willing to check Huang's ambitions, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Kress and her staff clashed with Huang and the sales team over the massive financing deals that fed what some Wall Street critics deemed a circular AI economy, including investments in OpenAI and AI infrastructure companies such as Lambda. A proposed $250bn plan to support an OpenAI data center project in Ohio was pared to $120bn.

"I think it's unlikely anyone but Jensen is going to invest in his own customers as aggressively," said a venture capital investor familiar with the matter. Another source told Reuters: "Colette is a pragmatist." Under her leadership, Nvidia is likely to "approach DC more like other tech companies do, by trying to build capital and make friends", instead of picking "a fight over export controls".

What do markets and China make of the exit?

Asia-Pacific stocks recovered some ground. An index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.26% on Friday, reversing part of its 1.3% fall in the previous session. South Korea's Kospi added 2.35% and Japan's Nikkei 1.4%. Naver fell 2.75% on Friday, after Nvidia's customers extended declines.

JP Morgan analysts wrote: "[Huang's] departure leaves a vacuum that will be difficult to fill … We do not assume existing commitments change, but new deals could take longer or require more compensation as investors look for reassurance about Nvidia's role." Jon Zauderer, Citi's head of specialist sales, said competitors such as AMD, Arista and Broadcom could benefit: "If you think about the uncertainty that's created about a potential management change, investors are going to look for alternatives."

In China, the reaction mixed mourning and calculation. News of the resignation drew more than 400m views overnight on Weibo, and social media users mourned the end of Huang's three decades at the top of the company. During a January 2026 visit, opportunistic sellers advertised photographs with him for 25,000 yuan, and a Beijing restaurant launched a special menu costing more than 400 yuan after he ate there. Meanwhile, Chinese AI companies are trying to secure Nvidia chip capacity outside China, people familiar with the matter said, and Beijing has stepped up domestic alternatives through Huawei, though analysts say Chinese chips remain less efficient for training advanced models.

Where does this end up?

The mechanism now runs through Congress: the defence authorisation bill, the four new acts, and Lutnick's hearing. A chip-tracking requirement written into a must-pass military measure would end the discretion Commerce used to approve Nvidia's December 2025 H200 sales in exchange for a cut of the proceeds, while a trade blacklist frozen since October 2025 leaves DeepSeek, CXMT and more than 100 other flagged companies outside the list.