U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, is leading calls for the now former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to testify before Congress. Huang is facing an investigation for an extra-marital affair with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy. On Thursday, Nvidia announced Huang would resign as CEO of the company.
Huang indicated Wednesday that he would cooperate with Congress, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The chairs of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party all signed a joint letter calling for Huang to testify at a “joint, closed-door briefing.”
They want more information on Nvidia’s security policies and his ties to Alice Huang, the affair partner and tech executive accused of working as a Chinese spy.
Moolenaar, chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told WCMU he has several questions for Huang.
“Is there privileged information that was shared with the Chinese spy? What kind of influence did the Chinese intelligence operative have with respect to national security policy?” Moolenaar said.
Alice Huang worked as an executive at Megaspeed, a Singaporean company that was accused of violating prohibitions on China obtaining computer chips during the Biden administration.
“As chips were allocated, to what degree did the China market take preference over... American companies?” Moolenaar added.
Moolenaar says the incident “shined a spotlight on some of the vulnerabilities our country has” regarding national security.
“Jensen Huang should have been more aware and Nvidia should have had better policies in place,” he added. “I think this is, in some ways, the tip of the iceberg."
The calls for more details about Jensen Huang's relationship with Alice Huang are coming from both sides of the aisle. U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jefferies, D-NY, said Monday that Congress “needs more information,” from the Nvidia co-founder.
Incoming House Intelligence Chair Jim Himes, D-CT, told NPR “it's not clear to me exactly what the relationship might have been between Alice Huang and the Chinese government.”
Himes also said “that there's still an immense number of unanswered questions from the standpoint of the Congress.”
Nvidia has become a major player in the artificial intelligence space and Jensen Huang accompanied President Donald Trump on his trip to China in May.
In a statement, Moolenaar said Jensen Huang’s resignation “is an unfortunate end that could have been avoided.”
Jensen Huang apologized to his family and the company in a statement on Wednesday and said he would cooperate with an independent investigation launched by Nvidia's board of directors.
"I love our country and our company. I am committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America’s national security. I am proud and grateful to be an American," he said.
WCMU's Rick Brewer contributed reporting to this story.
