US authorities are investigating whether Nvidia used front companies to sell chips to China around export restrictions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Fox News interview reported by TASS on 15 November. Investigators are examining Nvidia’s dealings with the companies and whether its management knew about them. Bessent’s disclosure follows his criticism of the Commerce Department over its handling of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based Nvidia customer accused of diverting advanced AI chips to China.
Key points
- Bessent says investigators are examining Nvidia’s dealings with front companies and what its management knew.
- He previously said Treasury and other agencies had supported adding Megaspeed to an export-restrictions list for months.
- Congressional committees have requested testimony and briefings on chip exports and Commerce’s oversight.
Bessent raises the question of Nvidia’s knowledge
“These shell companies were obvious, they were being investigated, and did Nvidia use them as a workaround to sell chips to the Chinese,” Bessent told Fox News. He said investigators were looking at the precise nature of Nvidia’s dealings with the companies and whether its management was aware of them. His account concerns an inquiry into possible conduct by Nvidia, rather than a finding that the company used front companies.
Bessent had already called for scrutiny of Nvidia employees’ knowledge of Megaspeed, the New York Post reported on 13 November. “Did Nvidia know their client?” he asked. He also questioned whether the company had made a robust effort to prevent chips reaching China through what he called “pass-through shell companies”. Those questions put Nvidia’s checks on a customer alongside the separate allegation that Megaspeed diverted chips.
The New York Post reported that an investigation into whether Megaspeed sent chips to China was transferred from Commerce to the Justice Department late in 2025, after Nvidia’s general counsel contacted Commerce investigators seeking an update. Bessent’s 15 November remarks describe investigators examining Nvidia’s dealings with front companies.
Commerce held the Megaspeed listing decision
Bessent said on 13 November that Treasury, Defense, State and the Office of the US Trade Representative had favoured putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months, CNBC reported. The entity list is a Commerce-controlled register used to restrict exports to named organisations. Bessent said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s department controlled the decision. An earlier AI Affairs report on the proposed Megaspeed curbs also described Bessent’s account of Commerce’s authority.
Commerce faced accusations that it had failed to investigate Megaspeed properly over alleged shipments of advanced AI chips to China, the New York Post reported. The paper described Megaspeed as a Singapore-based company led by Alice Huang, a former Nvidia chief executive’s associate whom it identified as an alleged Chinese spy. Bessent’s complaint about the listing decision concerned Commerce’s response to the customer. His later account of the investigation concerns whether Nvidia itself used front companies and what its managers knew.
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive on 12 November after acknowledging an affair amid scrutiny of his relationship with Alice Huang, CNBC reported. US intelligence had reportedly determined that she was a Chinese spy. Bessent told CNBC that the central question was whether Nvidia knew its customer and had taken steps to prevent chips reaching China through companies acting as intermediaries. He said he wanted anyone at Nvidia who was responsible to be held accountable.
Congress seeks Nvidia and Commerce answers
The dispute over Commerce’s handling of Megaspeed has also reached Congress. Commerce spokeswoman Kristen Eichamer denied that Bessent and Lutnick had discussed export controls in the White House Situation Room. Asked about the reported exchange, Bessent said he did not repeat conversations held there. Eichamer subsequently said Lutnick had voluntarily agreed to appear before the Senate Banking Committee to answer its questions.
Senator Tim Scott said Lutnick and Huang had been asked to testify before the Senate Banking Committee. House committees also requested closed-door appearances from Huang and Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter. An earlier AI Affairs report described congressional questions to the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Commerce office responsible for export controls, about oversight of Nvidia chip exports to China.
Huang has been asked to brief the House committees on China, intelligence and foreign affairs on 1 December. The committees have requested an interview with Teter on 2 December. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast has asked Jeff Kessler, Commerce’s under secretary for industry and security, to appear at a 3 December hearing on chip smuggling, military uses of advanced AI chips and reported interference in export-control policy and investigations.
