US Treasury chief blames Commerce Department over Nvidia chip exports

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused the Commerce Department, led by Howard Lutnick, of failing to block the export of high‑spec Nvidia chips to the cloud‑computing firm Megaspeed.

Bessent told CNBC that several agencies had favoured placing Megaspeed on the entity list for months, but “Commerce has the pen” and must explain its internal process. He said he was “frustrated” by delays in adding the company to the export‑control list and by reports that AI chips were leaking into China, contrary to President Trump’s instruction that China should not receive Nvidia chips above the H100 model.

The controversy deepened after revelations that Nvidia founder Jensen Huang had an affair with a former Megaspeed executive who is alleged to have been a Chinese spy. Megaspeed had been under investigation for suspected smuggling of advanced chips into China, although it is not on the official list of prohibited firms.

Both Lutnick and the Commerce Department face mounting pressure from across the political spectrum. Lutnick is due to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next month, and other congressional committees have demanded that all records relating to Nvidia and Huang be retained.

Bessent also questioned Nvidia’s own controls, asking whether the company knew its client and had robust safeguards against leakage through shell companies.

Source: BBC News. Photo: Konstantinos Kanavouras / Pexels.