Congress asks Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Lutnick to answer questions on Nvidia chip exports to China

Committees in both chambers of the US Congress asked former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang on Thursday, November 12, 2026, to answer questions in December about national security and the export of Nvidia chips to China. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose department runs US export controls, has agreed to testify to the Senate Banking Committee, his spokesperson told NBC News.

What the committees asked for

The House request is public. In a letter dated November 12, the chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Select Committee on China and the House Intelligence Committee asked Huang to "appear for a closed-door, transcribed interview on December 1, 2026." The letter is signed by Representatives Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford.

The letter says that failure to cooperate will lead the Foreign Affairs Committee to issue a subpoena, a legal order to testify. It asks for written confirmation "by 8 p.m. EST on November 13, 2026, or a subpoena will be issued." That is 01:00 UTC on November 14.

The same chairmen wrote to Nvidia's general counsel, Tim Teter, and to Jeffrey Kessler, an under secretary of commerce, according to the committee's announcement. In it they said there are "clear national security concerns that need to be addressed immediately" and called on Congress to pass four bills on chip security.

We could not open the Senate committee's website, so its letters are described here as outlets reported them. Scott asked Huang and Lutnick to appear voluntarily before the committee on December 3 and December 10, according to NBC News. The letter to Lutnick asks him to testify about "recent public reports about Nvidia and the Department of Commerce's role," NBC reported. Scott asked Huang to appear voluntarily but warned that the committee could issue a subpoena to compel his testimony, according to BBC News.

How Lutnick, Huang and Nvidia responded

"Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the Banking Committee to address their questions," his spokesperson Kristen Eichamer told NBC News.

Representatives for Huang did not immediately respond to NBC's request for comment on the Senate letter. Mast said on Thursday that Huang had agreed to brief lawmakers, NBC News reported.

Nvidia has said that it complies with US laws on exports, according to NBC News.

What led to the requests

On November 8, Nvidia's board said it was opening an independent investigation "in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort," and that it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. Nvidia announced his resignation on November 12 and gave no reason, as we reported in our article on the resignation.

The lawmakers' questions go beyond Huang. According to CNBC, members of both parties are asking whether the Commerce Department did enough to limit the supply of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, and whether it oversaw Nvidia's exports closely enough. The House chairmen's statement names Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that CNBC describes as a buyer of more than $4.8 billion of Nvidia AI chips over the past two years.

A person who worked as an executive at Megaspeed has been suspected of being an intelligence asset for China, according to The New York Times as cited by BBC News. China has rejected that allegation as a smear, the BBC reported. Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Thursday that the Justice Department had not yet drawn any conclusions about whether that person was engaged in espionage, according to the BBC. We have not read the Times report ourselves, and no charges have been announced in the sources we read.

Why it matters

Export controls decide which chips Nvidia may sell to customers in China and in countries that trade with it. In our assessment, hearings on how those rules were applied could lead to tighter rules. The House chairmen have already asked Congress to pass the four bills named in their statement.

The hearings also keep the company in the news during a leadership change. Nvidia is due to report quarterly results on November 17 under interim chief executive Colette Kress.

What it could mean for traders

The dates to note are the House deadline on the evening of November 13, the closed-door interview requested for December 1, and the Senate hearings requested for December 3 and December 10. None of the dates is confirmed as a hearing that will take place, apart from Lutnick's agreement to appear.

Nvidia shares closed at $166.19 on Thursday and traded at about $169.26 in premarket trading at 12:30 UTC on Friday, according to Yahoo Finance data. Premarket prices can change before the market opens at 14:30 UTC. In our assessment, the main open question for the stock is whether the hearings lead to new limits on chip sales, and nothing in the sources we read answers that yet.