U.S. Treasury Secretary Blames Commerce Department for Nvidia AI Chip Scandal Involving Megaspeed and Chinese Intelligence Allegations
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly criticized the Commerce Department for failing to blacklist Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company suspected of aiding Chinese firms in bypassing U.S. export controls. The scandal led to the resignation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and raised concerns about the leakage of advanced AI chips to China.
Where Sources Diverge
Some sources only mention the general blame of the Commerce Department without providing specific details about Megaspeed or the allegations against Jensen Huang.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed the Commerce Department, led by Howard Lutnick, for inadequate export oversight of Nvidia's AI chips.
US Treasury chief blames Commerce Dept for failure in Nvidia scandal
US Treasury chief blames Commerce Dept for failure in Nvidia scandal
The British Broadcasting Corporation and BBC World both report that Scott Bessent stated that several government agencies supported adding Megaspeed to the entity list, but they do not provide additional details about the scandal.
Scott Bessent told CNBC that several government agencies 'were in favour of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months'.
Scott Bessent suggests Howard Lutnick’s commerce department failed to ban exports of Nvidia's chips to a firm thought to have links with China.
The Bangkok Post and other outlets only mention the general blame of the Commerce Department without providing specific details about the scandal or the involved parties.
US Treasury chief blames Commerce Dept for failure in Nvidia scandal
The Dawn article provides the most detailed account, including the resignation of Jensen Huang, the allegations against Alice Huang, and the financial details of Megaspeed's transactions with Nvidia.
The article provides detailed information about the scandal, including the resignation of Jensen Huang, the allegations against Alice Huang, and the financial details of Megaspeed's transactions with Nvidia.
Sources
Trump administration tensions escalate after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed the Commerce Department, led by Howard Lutnick, for inadequate export oversight of Nvidia's AI chips.
Scott Bessent told CNBC that several government agencies "were in favour of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months".
Scott Bessent told CNBC that several government agencies "were in favour of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months".
US Treasury chief blames Commerce Dept for failure in Nvidia scandal The Standard
US Treasury chief blames Commerce Dept for failure in Nvidia scandal www.standardmedia.co.ke
US Treasury chief blames Commerce Dept for failure in Nvidia scandal Bangkok Post
Scott Bessent suggests Howard Lutnick’s commerce department failed to ban exports of Nvidia's chips to a firm thought to have links with China.
Scott Bessent told CNBC that several government agencies "were in favour of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months".
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday blamed the Commerce Department for failing to blacklist Megaspeed, the Singapore company at the centre of a scandal that prompted Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang to resign. Speaking on CNBC, Bessent said Treasury, the Defence Department, the US Trade Representative’s office and the State Department had backed adding Megaspeed to Washington’s trade blacklist, “for months”. “But Commerce has the pen,” Bessent said. “You will have to ask them about their internal processes.” He said he was “frustrated” because President Donald Trump “made it very clear that China should not receive any Nvidia chips above H100s”. “Any leakage is very frustrating because it hurts our great companies, and in the AI race gives the Chinese an advantage,” he said. The remarks are a rare public rebuke of one cabinet department by another. Commerce is led by Secretary Howard Lutnick. Megaspeed is suspected of helping Chinese firms get around US export controls by buying Nvidia chips for its data centres in Southeast Asia and routing them to China. The company reportedly traded more than $4 billion worth of Nvidia chips over two years. Its former director Alice Huang was this week identified in US media as an alleged Chinese intelligence asset who had a relationship with Jensen Huang. The two are not related. Beijing has denied the spying allegations. Jensen Huang acknowledged an extramarital affair in a November 8 letter to Nvidia employees that did not name the woman involved and resigned his position on Thursday. Nvidia’s board has said it will investigate, and three US Congress committee chairs have asked him to attend a closed-door briefing on November 18. Bessent said coverage of the affair had focused too much on Huang’s private life. “The story thus far has been on Jensen Huang’s personal foibles,” he said. “The real story here should be: Did Nvidia know their client, and was there a robust effort at Nvidia to make sure that there was no leakage?” He questioned whether Nvidia had been selling to “what were obviously pass-through shell companies”. “I think it’s important that anyone at the company there be held accountable for that,” Bessent said, adding that there was “a lot of leakage in the system” and that the administration was “constantly working to close that down”.
US Treasury chief blames Commerce Dept for failure in Nvidia scandal AFP.com