Nvidia is pushing back after three House Republican committee chairmen asked CEO Jensen Huang to appear at a closed-door briefing on November 18 about his interactions with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed whom the lawmakers describe as a publicly reported Chinese intelligence asset. An Nvidia representative said Friday that the company's regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information, not sensitive trade secrets, but did not say whether Huang would attend.
The request came in a letter dated November 4 from Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, and Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The chairmen asked Huang to brief their committees in room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building and to accept the date, or propose an alternative session day, by November 11.
The letter covers two subjects: Huang's interactions with the Megaspeed executive and Nvidia's security protocols against foreign adversary espionage. The House Foreign Affairs Committee published the letter and an accompanying release on November 5. The letter was sent a day after the midterm elections in which Republicans lost control of Congress.
Key facts
- 01Chairmen Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford asked Jensen Huang to a closed-door briefing on November 18, 2026.
- 02The November 4 letter asks Nvidia to accept the date or offer an alternative session day by November 11.
- 03The briefing would cover Huang's interactions with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang and Nvidia's anti-espionage protocols.
- 04Nvidia said its regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information, not sensitive trade secrets.
- 05Nvidia shares rose 6.78% to $193.91 early Friday, recovering part of Thursday's AI selloff.
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is a Chinese citizen and a Megaspeed executive. Reporting cited in coverage of the letter says U.S. intelligence officials identified her as allegedly passing information to Beijing and that surveillance showed a close relationship between her and the Nvidia CEO. That reporting did not establish that Jensen Huang knew of any such activity, and what information reached Beijing, and its value, remains unclear. China has called the allegations groundless speculation.
Megaspeed has drawn U.S. scrutiny over suspicions that it helped Chinese entities obtain or access advanced Nvidia AI chips despite export restrictions. Nvidia has described Huang's interactions with the executive as routine business engagement and has said diversion concerns involving Megaspeed were investigated and debunked.
In its Friday response, the Nvidia representative said the company is confident the U.S. government would tell it if any person posed a threat to American industry. The representative added that Nvidia has a security team that travels with its CEO when needed, and that the company acts accordingly when it receives U.S. government updates about entities of concern.
The letter does not accuse Huang or Nvidia of wrongdoing. The chairmen wrote that recent reports raise significant national security concerns about China's access to sensitive U.S. technology and information, and called China's access to cutting-edge U.S. technology core to the investigative work of their three committees this Congress.
“It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which U.S. national security has been placed at risk.”— Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford, House committee chairmen, in their joint letter
The requested date lands one day after Nvidia's scheduled third-quarter earnings report on November 17. Nvidia shares rose 6.78% to $193.91 in early trading Friday, recovering part of Thursday's broad selloff in AI and chip stocks.
Nvidia has until November 11 to accept the November 18 date or propose another session day of the 119th Congress. As of Friday, the company had not said whether Huang will appear.
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