Two senior Democratic senators have told the Trump administration to preserve every document tied to Nvidia's exports of advanced AI chips to China, escalating the scandal around former chief executive Jensen Huang from a corporate crisis into a congressional investigation.
Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Coons of Delaware sent the letter on Wednesday, November 11, to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Warren is set to chair the Senate Banking Committee from January, while Coons will lead the Foreign Relations Committee — the two panels that oversee export controls and national-security investigations.
A preservation request, not a finding
The senators asked the three officials to confirm in writing by Tuesday, November 17, that they have directed staff to keep all communications, records and other materials related to Nvidia's chip exports. They also requested a congressional briefing on the national-security risks posed by the suspected intelligence operation.
Document-preservation letters are commonly the first step before a formal congressional investigation. The letter itself is not a subpoena, and it makes no finding that any official or company broke the law. But it puts the administration on notice that lawmakers intend to examine how export decisions were made — and whether national-security advice was overruled or delayed.
The requested records cover export-licence materials, communications between Nvidia and the administration, intelligence assessments, and records tied to meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Megaspeed connection
At the centre of the senators' concern is Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that has purchased more than $4.8 billion in advanced Nvidia AI chips since June 2024. US intelligence officials suspect Alice Huang of working for Beijing, and reports say the relationship helped facilitate at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to China.
Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive on Thursday, November 12, hours after reports that the company's board was preparing to remove him. The board named chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim chief and said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised, while an investigation overseen by independent directors continues.
China's Foreign Ministry has called the espionage account baseless.
Pressure builds on Commerce
The letter lands amid growing criticism of Lutnick's handling of chip exports. Warren said Lutnick and Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler "must explain why they have not closed export control loopholes and act today to ensure our advanced technology is not fueling China's military."
Lawmakers in both parties are now pressing the Commerce Department. Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, separately asked Lutnick on Thursday to add Chinese memory maker ChangXin Memory Technologies, known as CXMT, to the Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List. Senator Michael Bennet sent a separate letter on November 11 to the Commerce, Justice and State departments and the director of national intelligence, requesting an update on the Megaspeed investigation, with written answers due by November 24.
The next deadline is November 17, when Warren and Coons expect written confirmation that the records hold is in place. How the administration responds will shape whether the Nvidia affair becomes a full congressional inquiry into US chip-export policy.
