Jensen Huang resigns from Nvidia as Congress prepares investigations

A sudden exit at the top

Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of Nvidia on Thursday, according to CNBC, after reports emerged that he had conducted a relationship with a woman described as a suspected Chinese intelligence agent. The woman, Alice Huang, is an executive at Megaspeed, a technology company based in Singapore. Nvidia has named Colette Kress as interim chief executive while the company deals with the aftermath.

The departure marks a remarkable reversal for the man who built Nvidia into the dominant supplier of the processors that power artificial intelligence. Until this week, Huang was regarded as one of the most influential advocates for the AI industry in Washington, with close ties to President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet.

Republicans demand answers within weeks

Congressional leaders lost little time. Republican figures in charge of both chambers of Congress called on Huang to testify before they lose control in January, and CNBC reports that party leaders warned they would compel his appearance with a subpoena if he declined to attend voluntarily.

House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Brian Mast is negotiating the terms of an appearance and told reporters on Thursday that Huang had agreed to testify in the coming weeks. Mast said he wanted the session to happen within about a week, ideally before Thanksgiving. The testimony would likely involve his committee alongside the House intelligence panel and the committee focused on China, and it would be given under oath with a written transcript. It remains unclear whether it would be held in public.

Mast, together with John Moolenaar of the House China committee and Rick Crawford of the House intelligence panel, sent a second request on Thursday to Huang and to Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter, giving them until 8 p.m. ET on Friday to respond. Mast also sent a renewed request to Jeffrey Kessler.

A Senate hearing and a threatened subpoena

The Senate banking committee has also moved. Its chair, Tim Scott, summoned both Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to give evidence before his panel in December, and threatened to subpoena the former Nvidia chief if he refused. In a letter to Huang, Scott wrote that recent reports raise serious concerns about national security and the protection of sensitive US technology, adding that the American people deserve answers.

Lutnick responded quickly. A Commerce Department spokesperson, Kristen Eichamer, said in a statement that the secretary had agreed of his own accord to appear before the banking committee and answer its questions.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune also signalled that the matter would not rest. Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, he said that with national security stakes this high, he would expect some follow-up.

Questions over export controls

Much of the congressional concern centres on whether restricted American chips reached China. Megaspeed, the Singaporean firm where Alice Huang works, is alleged to have smuggled limited chips to China, and a Commerce Department investigation into the company was later transferred to the Justice Department.

According to the New York Times, as cited by CNBC, Nvidia's general counsel Tim Teter stated in emails to Commerce investigators that he had been in contact with Jeffrey Kessler, who runs the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Commerce subagency that administers and enforces export controls. Some members of Congress have now called for scrutiny of that agency's role in the affair.

Lutnick himself has faced criticism this week over reports that he slowed President Trump's enforcement actions against firms accused of routing Nvidia chips to China. On Friday, Democratic representative Josh Gottheimer told CNBC that he wanted to establish what chip policy meant in practice, what reached China, and whether Megaspeed diverted chips.

Democrats prepare to take over

The pressure will intensify in January, when Democrats take control of both the House and the Senate and gain subpoena power. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X on Thursday that Congress must demand answers from Huang and others at Nvidia about whether they put US national security at risk.

Elizabeth Warren, the likely incoming chair of the Senate banking panel, said on Thursday that Huang, Nvidia executives and the company's board still owe Congress answers about compliance with US export controls.

The letter instructs them to preserve all documents and communications connected to Nvidia's exports of advanced AI chips to China, or to any entities that might divert such chips there.

Why the stakes are so high

Nvidia's chips sit at the centre of American artificial intelligence policy, and Washington has spent years restricting their sale to China over fears that they could strengthen rival military and surveillance capabilities. Any suggestion that a personal relationship might have influenced access to that technology turns a corporate scandal into a national security question.

The affair also touches the White House directly, given Huang's reported closeness to President Trump and his Cabinet. With Democrats preparing a broad oversight agenda against the administration once they take control, Nvidia looks set to remain at the centre of congressional attention well beyond the hearings planned for the coming weeks.