Jensen Huang is out at Nvidia. Senate Democrats say that doesn’t close the case, and they want the Trump administration’s records kept intact.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Coons of Delaware sent a letter Wednesday evening telling three of President Trump’s top officials to preserve every document, communication and record tied to Nvidia’s exports of advanced AI chips to China, and to the reported Chinese intelligence operation that has engulfed the company’s now-former CEO.
The letter went to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio, and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller.
Huang resigns as the pressure mounts
Nvidia’s board announced Thursday that Huang had resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately. Chief financial officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement, and Harvey C. Jones was named the company’s first-ever board chair.
The resignation followed reports, covered by the Associated Press, The Guardian and Axios, of Huang’s affair with a woman identified by U.S. intelligence as a Chinese intelligence asset, and a New York Times report of a relationship with Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell, who reports to him.
Warren wasn’t satisfied by the exit. Huang’s resignation “does not absolve him, other executives, or the company as a whole of responsibility for putting our national security at risk or for any potential violations of our laws,” she said in a statement Thursday morning, adding that Trump officials must still “explain why they have not closed export control loopholes.”
“Yet did not move to block”
The senators’ sharpest words were aimed at the administration itself. “Reports suggest that officials within the government – including at the White House, State Department, and Commerce Department – were aware of concerns about NVIDIA, its relationship with Megaspeed, and the suspected Chinese intelligence operation, yet did not move to block the continued flow of advanced AI chips to Megaspeed or other companies affiliated with the suspected operative,” Warren and Coons wrote.
“Questions also remain regarding whether or not prudent defensive counter-intelligence action was taken or national security recommendations were overruled,” they added.
Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company, has bought more than $4.8 billion in advanced Nvidia AI chips since June 2024. The company is reportedly under Justice Department investigation for allegedly diverting chips to China. The letter also points to reports that a Commerce Department investigation into the company was altered after communications with Nvidia representatives. Megaspeed has said it will cooperate with U.S. investigations, NBC News reported.
What Democrats want
Warren and Coons asked the officials to preserve all records related to Nvidia’s advanced AI chip exports to China and to the suspected Chinese intelligence operation. They want written confirmation by Nov. 17 that those records are being preserved, and they asked for a briefing for Congress.
For now, the message from Warren and Coons is simple: the CEO is gone, but the questions about who in Washington knew what, and when, are not.