Three Republican chairs of US House committees have asked Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang to appear behind closed doors on November 18 to explain his reported contacts with a businesswoman US intelligence agencies say passed information to Beijing — and to set out how the world's most valuable chipmaker guards against foreign espionage.
The letter, dated November 4 and released on November 5, was signed by Representative Brian Mast, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee; Representative John Moolenaar, who leads the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party; and Representative Rick Crawford, who chairs the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. It asks Huang to accept the November 18 date, or propose an alternative, by November 11.
No wrongdoing by Huang is alleged, and neither Alice Huang nor Megaspeed has been charged with any crime. Nvidia says the contacts were ordinary business. But the request puts the head of the company at the centre of the US–China technology rivalry under formal congressional scrutiny — the day after Nvidia reports its third-quarter results.
What the letter asks
According to Reuters, which saw the letter, the three chairs want a joint, closed-door briefing in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building on November 18. They want answers on two fronts: Huang's interactions with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive US intelligence agencies have identified as a Chinese intelligence asset, and Nvidia's "security protocols against foreign adversary espionage".
The letter says recent reports "raise significant national security concerns regarding [China's] access to sensitive US technology and information", adding: "It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk." It does not specify which reports it relies on.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| October 29, 2026 | The New York Times reports US intelligence agencies assessed Alice Huang as an asset passing information to Beijing |
| November 4, 2026 | Three House committee chairs sign the letter to Jensen Huang |
| November 5, 2026 | The letter is released publicly |
| November 11, 2026 | Deadline for Huang to accept November 18 or propose another date |
| November 17, 2026 | Nvidia reports third-quarter results |
| November 18, 2026 | Requested closed-door briefing, Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building |
The allegations behind the request
The New York Times reported on October 29 that US intelligence agencies had assessed Alice Huang, a former executive of Singapore-based company Megaspeed, as an asset gathering information for Beijing, and that US spy agencies learned of her relationship with Jensen Huang through surveillance of her. The Times' account does not assert that Jensen Huang knowingly participated in espionage, describing instead a counterintelligence concern that a foreign intelligence asset cultivated a relationship with the head of the world's most valuable chipmaker.
The Wall Street Journal later reported that officials in at least three countries were concerned Alice Huang was passing information to the Chinese government, potentially including sensitive details about Nvidia chips. Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen also known as Huang Le, was Megaspeed's managing director for its first eight months before removing herself from that role in corporate paperwork, according to the Free Press Journal. The two Huangs are not related.
President Donald Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings roughly a year ago and took no action, the Times reported — reportedly to avoid disrupting Nvidia's business and US–China trade relations. Jensen Huang himself was never given a defensive briefing by the US government, the standard protocol when an executive is in contact with a suspected foreign asset.
The allegations remain unproven in public and untested in any court. Alice Huang has not been charged with any crime, Megaspeed has not been charged, and no wrongdoing by Jensen Huang is alleged. The Chinese government has previously called the claims that it was spying on Nvidia "groundless speculation".
Megaspeed and the export-control question
Megaspeed buys AI chips from Nvidia, and the US government has suspected the company of helping China gain access to advanced AI chips that are barred from shipment to China under US export controls. A sister company in Malaysia bought at least $4.8 billion of advanced AI equipment containing Nvidia technology between June 2024 and February 2026, according to trade records cited by Implicator, a publication that first reported on the letter.
According to the same reporting, a US Commerce Department official who visited the Malaysian company's data centre in late 2024 found the site suspicious, with the Nvidia equipment still in boxes.
Washington has long scrutinised Nvidia's sales to China. The company's most advanced AI chips cannot legally be shipped to China, and US officials have spent years trying to close routes — through intermediaries and third countries — by which restricted chips might still reach Chinese buyers. Megaspeed is one of the companies under that scrutiny.
What Nvidia says
Nvidia did not comment on the letter itself, but said Huang talks with "thousands of customer executives every year" and emphasised that cloud customers in Asia receive ordinary business information, not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets or anything tied to US national security.
"We often receive updates from the US government regarding parties and entities of concern and always act accordingly." — Nvidia, in a statement reported by Reuters
Huang has told Bloomberg that Nvidia's dealings with Megaspeed were normal and that Alice Huang was no longer with the company. As of November 5–6, Nvidia had not confirmed whether Huang would attend the briefing.
Why this matters
The request is striking because it comes from the Republican chairs of three powerful committees — Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and the Select Committee on China — and because it breaks with the hands-off approach the Trump administration has largely taken toward the tech industry. It is also not the first time Congress has sought Huang's testimony: he declined a June request from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren to appear before the Senate Banking Committee, and Warren renewed her call for testimony last week. The new request adds Republican pressure from the House side, and it lands a day after Nvidia's earnings — a moment when the company's China exposure will already be under the market's microscope.
For Nvidia, the stakes are commercial as well as political. China, including Hong Kong, accounted for $7.88 billion — about 8.2% — of Nvidia's $96.2 billion in revenue in the quarter ended July 26, according to company figures cited in reporting on the letter. Any suggestion that its chips are reaching China through back channels threatens both its export licences and its standing in Washington.
What happens next
Huang has until November 11 to accept the November 18 date or propose an alternative. Nvidia reports third-quarter results on November 17. The briefing, if it goes ahead, will be held behind closed doors, so its contents may not become public immediately — but the chairs' decision to publicise the letter suggests they intend the pressure itself to be visible. What to watch: whether Huang accepts the date, whether the White House or the Commerce Department weighs in, and whether the committees follow up with a public hearing or with action on export-control enforcement.
Frequently asked questions
Has Jensen Huang been accused of wrongdoing?
No. No wrongdoing by Huang is alleged, and neither he nor Alice Huang nor Megaspeed has been charged with any crime. The committees want to question him about his contacts and about Nvidia's defences against foreign espionage.
Who is Alice Huang?
A Chinese citizen, also known as Huang Le, who was a senior executive — managing director for its first eight months — at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that buys AI chips from Nvidia. US intelligence agencies have assessed her as an asset passing information to Beijing, according to the New York Times. She is not related to Jensen Huang.
What is Megaspeed?
A Singapore-based company that buys AI chips from Nvidia. The US government has suspected it of helping China gain access to advanced AI chips barred from shipment to China, and a sister company in Malaysia bought at least $4.8 billion of AI equipment containing Nvidia technology between June 2024 and February 2026, according to trade records cited by Implicator.
Why does Congress care about Nvidia's China sales?
Nvidia makes the world's most advanced AI chips, which the US bars from shipment to China on national-security grounds. Congress wants to know whether restricted technology is reaching Beijing through intermediaries, and whether the company that makes it has adequate defences against foreign espionage.
When is the briefing?
The chairs have asked for a joint, closed-door briefing on November 18 in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and for Huang to confirm the date or propose an alternative by November 11.
Key takeaways
- Three House Republican committee chairs have asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to brief Congress behind closed doors on November 18 about his reported contacts with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive US intelligence agencies say passed information to Beijing.
- The letter also seeks details of Nvidia's security protocols against foreign espionage, and asks Huang to confirm the date or propose an alternative by November 11.
- No wrongdoing by Huang is alleged and no one has been charged; Nvidia says the contacts were ordinary business and that Asian cloud customers receive no sensitive information.
- The request follows an October 29 New York Times report and comes a day after Nvidia's third-quarter earnings, adding Republican pressure to Democratic calls for Huang to testify.
- The wider question is export control: whether restricted Nvidia AI chips are reaching China through intermediaries such as Megaspeed.
The briefing request turns a newspaper report into a formal congressional demand — and puts the chief executive of the world's most valuable company on the spot over the most sensitive fault line in US–China relations: who gets America's most advanced chips, and how Washington knows. The answer to the first question, at least, may come on November 18.
