On the 12th (local time), the U.S. Congress announced its intention to continue investigating Jensen Huang even after he was dismissed from his position as CEO of NVIDIA due to his affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.
It was also announced that Commerce Secretary Howard Rutnick, who manages Nvidia semiconductor exports to China, would also appear on the congressional testimony stand.
According to Reuters, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (Republican, South Carolina) sent a letter to former CEO Hwang and Minister Rutnick on this day, requesting them to appear before the committee and testify.
“Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive American technology,” Scott told He also emphasized, “The American people deserve answers.”
Reuters reported that Secretary Rutnick is being criticized by lawmakers for not putting dozens of Chinese companies on the U.S. key export blacklist and whether the government properly supervised Nvidia's exports to China.
Separately, senior White House officials are discussing the dismissal of Secretary Rutnick, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the internal situation.
Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), the Democratic ranking member of the Banking Committee who is expected to serve as chair of the Senate Banking Committee in the next Congress, said in a statement that Hwang's dismissal "does not absolve former CEO Hwang, other executives, or the company as a whole of responsibility for endangering our national security or for potential violations of the law," and demanded that Hwang and Nvidia submit to a congressional investigation.
The investigation is expected to continue in other Senate committees.
When asked by reporters on the day whether there would be an investigation, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Shun said, "I expect there will be follow-up action in this situation where there is truly a grave risk to national security," CNBC reported.
An investigation has already begun in the House of Representatives.
CNN reported on this day that Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (Republican, Florida) said the night before that former CEO Hwang had tentatively agreed to appear before a major congressional committee and testify privately.
The major committees that agreed to attend include the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Special Committee on U.S.-China Strategic Competition (China Special Committee). These committees have begun investigating former CEO Hwang's affair and the threat to national security posed by Nvidia's cutting-edge semiconductor exports to China, and have been requesting former CEO Hwang to appear before Congress and testify.
Chairman Mast also announced that he was prepared to issue a subpoena if former CEO Hwang suddenly changed his attitude and failed to appear.
He said that if former CEO Hwang appears, "at least he will testify under oath, and his remarks will be recorded and videotaped." However, it is still unclear whether former CEO Hwang's oath and testimony will be made public.
Chairman Mast said, “I am also interested in testimony from other organizations within NVIDIA related to Jensen and his work,” suggesting the possibility of having other NVIDIA officials in addition to former CEO Hwang appear.
John Mullenard (R-Mich.), chairman of the China Special Committee, said it was necessary to hear former CEO Hwang's testimony, saying, "It is important to understand how Chinese intelligence agencies operated, what information, especially what classified information, they had access to, and what lobbying they did on specific policies."
Chairman Mullenaar also said that former CEO Hwang "was one of the strongest opponents of export controls" on Nvidia's cutting-edge semiconductors. "While the dismissal of former CEO Hwang changes the dynamics, he has been critical of those who see export controls as appropriate. I hope he will come out in person and discuss it with us."
At the Intelligence Committee, lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties demanded an investigation from intelligence authorities.
Politico, a U.S. political media outlet, reported that the Intelligence Committee subcommittee's Republican Chairman Darrin Lahood and Democratic Ranking Member Josh Gottheimer sent a letter to intelligence authorities asking them to investigate whether the former CEO Hwang scandal posed a national security risk.
They pointed out that “if China gets its hands on this technology, it could be used to train military AI systems, accelerate cyber operations targeting U.S. networks, and expand state-level surveillance activities.”
The letter was delivered to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Jay Clayton and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe.
