Nvidia's Jensen Huang faces subpoena threat as House sets Wednesday deadline for Nov. 18 briefing

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast said on Tuesday (10 November) that the House is prepared to subpoena Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang if he does not respond by Wednesday (11 November) to a congressional request for a closed-door briefing on 18 November.

Three committee chairs demand a briefing

The request came in a letter dated 4 November from three Republican committee chairs: Mast (Foreign Affairs), Rick Crawford (Intelligence) and John Moolenaar (Select Committee on China). It asks Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on 18 November, or propose another date by 11 November, to discuss his reported relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based technology company Megaspeed International, and Nvidia's safeguards against foreign intelligence operations. US intelligence reportedly believes Alice Huang was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security.

Board hires former federal prosecutor to lead independent probe

Nvidia's board announced on Tuesday that its independent directors have appointed former acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the board's independent investigation into the reporting. Huang has agreed to cooperate, and the board reaffirmed its confidence in him and his leadership team, saying there is currently “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised”, while the inquiry “will examine all available information”.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the FBI is investigating the matter. He said he had spoken with Huang by telephone and that Huang denied knowing the woman was allegedly connected to Chinese intelligence. The Chinese government has rejected the espionage allegations, while Alice Huang and Megaspeed have not publicly provided a detailed response to the reporting.

Senator calls for resignation as shares slide

Pressure is also coming from elsewhere in Congress: Senator Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, told Politico on Tuesday evening that Huang should step down as chief executive. Nvidia and Huang were also sued on Monday in a proposed securities class action accusing them of concealing Huang's ties to a suspected Chinese spy from shareholders. The allegations remain unproven, and no one has been charged.

Nvidia shares closed on Tuesday at $168.89, down 5.5%. On Wednesday, investment bank Baird downgraded Nvidia to Neutral from Outperform and cut its price target to $200 from $500, citing less visibility into 2027 data-centre forecasts. Nvidia reports third-quarter results on 17 November; the 11 November response deadline and the 18 November briefing are the next dates to watch.

Background

The New York Times first reported on 6 November that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had overseen the creation of a secret memo about Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, which was sent to senior US officials last spring. On 8 November, Nvidia's board opened its independent investigation, and Huang sent a message to employees acknowledging he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologising, saying he would cooperate fully with the investigation.

(File photo: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.)