Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked the Trump administration on 11 November 2026 to preserve records concerning Nvidia’s advanced AI-chip exports to China, Reuters reported. Their letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller asks the three offices to retain documents concerning exports to China or to entities that might divert chips there. It also seeks records about a reported Chinese intelligence operation involving Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang.
Key points
- The request covers licensing decisions, suspected diversion, enforcement actions, intelligence assessments and discussions between agencies.
- The senators cite reporting about Megaspeed, a Singapore-based computing company, and a suspected intelligence operation involving one of its executives.
- They ask for written confirmation by 17 November that preservation directives have reached the relevant offices.
Commerce and State records fall within the request
The senators seek documents, communications and other materials concerning both exports to China and exports to entities that may send advanced AI chips there. They ask the administration to retain records on the administration and enforcement of US export controls, including licensing decisions, diversion investigations, enforcement actions, analyses of Chinese intelligence activity and deliberations between agencies. The breadth of that request reaches decisions made before a shipment as well as inquiries into where chips may have gone afterwards.
Warren and Coons direct Lutnick, Rubio and Miller to issue preservation notices throughout their respective offices. The letter names the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which handles export controls, and the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. It also names both departments’ secretaries’ offices and relevant parts of the Executive Office of the President, including the National Security Council. The request is for those offices to keep material that could bear on the decisions, rather than for an immediate ruling on any export licence.
The senators also ask that other records be preserved under the Federal Records Act and that Executive Office of the President records be retained under the Presidential Records Act. They describe the material as relevant to their committees’ oversight of export-control policy and foreign relations, and to consideration of legislation. Their letter requests a briefing for members of Congress about the national-security risks the reported intelligence operation may have posed.
Megaspeed purchases draw scrutiny to diversion
The senators say Megaspeed, a Singapore-based computing company, has bought more than $4.8 billion of Nvidia’s advanced AI chips since June 2024. They also say Huang has publicly acknowledged a close personal relationship with a Megaspeed executive. Citing reports about that executive, the letter says she may have passed information about Nvidia technology to China’s main intelligence and security service. Those allegations form part of the senators’ case for retaining both export-control and intelligence records.
Megaspeed is reportedly under Department of Justice investigation over suspected diversion of advanced AI chips to China, the senators say. The letter also refers to reports that a Commerce Department inquiry into suspected chip smuggling was transferred to Justice and subsequently altered following reported communications between Nvidia representatives and Commerce officials. The senators ask for records of licensing decisions, diversion investigations and enforcement actions.
The request singles out intelligence memoranda, assessments, briefings and communications about the suspected operation involving Alice Huang, Jensen Huang or Megaspeed and its affiliates. Among the documents sought is a memorandum reportedly circulated to senior administration officials before President Trump’s visit to China in May 2026. They also want assessments of national-security concerns over advanced AI chip purchases by Megaspeed, companies linked to it, its previous owner 7Road Holdings and other connected businesses.
Warren and Coons seek a 17 November response
Warren and Coons say reports suggest officials at the White House, State Department and Commerce Department knew of concerns about Nvidia, Megaspeed and the suspected intelligence operation. They question whether defensive counter-intelligence measures were taken or national-security recommendations were overruled. Records of what officials knew, and of discussions between their offices, are therefore part of the request alongside the export paperwork itself.
The preservation demand follows other congressional attention to Huang and China chip controls. AI Affairs has reported that lawmakers called for Huang to resign as those controls came under review. It has also reported Trump’s statement that the FBI was examining Huang’s alleged spy link. The new letter directs its requests to the offices holding government records rather than to Nvidia.
Lutnick, Rubio and Miller are asked to confirm in writing by 17 November that preservation directives have been issued across their respective offices. The senators also ask them to brief members of Congress on the risks the reported intelligence operation may have posed to national security.
