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What is the level of relationship between Donald Trump and Jensen Huang? The answer is: very close.
The now former director of Nvidia was one of the few business leaders to have direct access to the American president. He met Trump several times, traveled with him to the United Kingdom and, in May, boarded the presidential plane, Air Force One, with him for his trip to China.
Jensen Huang wasn't just another tech billionaire trying to influence Trump. He has become an important voice in one of the main discussions within the American government: to what extent should the most advanced US technologies be allowed to reach China.
Nvidia makes the chips that power the artificial intelligence revolution.
Washington has restricted exports of its most advanced processors to China since 2022, believing they could help Beijing develop military and technological capabilities. But it is difficult to put these restrictions into practice.
Customers can buy the chips legally in countries like Singapore and Malaysia and then ship them to China. And Chinese companies can also rent access to computers through data centers located outside the country.
Huang has long argued that restrictions are counterproductive. They alienate Nvidia from a huge market and encourage Chinese companies to develop their own alternatives.
Trump appeared sympathetic to this view and allowed Nvidia to resume selling some chips to China last year in exchange for a share of its revenue. But its more advanced Blackwell chips remain banned.
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Now, this relationship seems to have gotten more complicated.
Questions awaiting answers
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News about the alleged love affair between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang — a former executive at the Singapore-based company Megaspeed, with no family ties to the former Nvidia director — raised the possibility that a foreign intelligence operation was seeking not just a powerful businessman, but someone with unusually close access to the American president.
American intelligence would have suspected that Alice had links with Chinese intelligence. Beijing rejected the accusations.
Nvidia's management says it has no reason to believe that company secrets have been compromised, nor has American national security.
But the case raised a much bigger question: what did the Washington government know and what did it do about it?
This question takes us directly to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
His department is responsible for controlling exports of sensitive American technology and has also been pressured to act on concerns about Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer suspected of helping divert advanced chips to China.
On Thursday (11/12), Megaspeed chief executive Tan Yong Pong, also known as James Tan, said the company "takes its obligations to comply with US export control legislation very seriously" and is "committed to working constructively and transparently with the US government".
Tan stated that the company had cooperated with inspections by the United States Department of Commerce.
A top secret memo was shared with Lutnick regarding concerns regarding Alice and Megaspeed. He resisted taking action against the company and his decision is now questioned.
Other officials wanted a firmer response.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is one of those who has reportedly questioned why Megaspeed was not included on the Commerce Department's restricted list.
On Friday (11/13), Bessent accused the Commerce Department of failing to impose restrictions on the company. He told the American TV network CNBC that several government agencies "were in favor of including Megaspeed on the entity list for months." "But Commerce is the one who decides. You need to ask them about the procedure."
Questions also arose about why an investigation into the Singapore-based company was suspended after intervention by Nvidia.
The American newspaper The New York Times reported that Nvidia's general counsel contacted Commerce Department investigators who were probing suspected chip smuggling by Megaspeed, invoking an important person appointed by Trump.
The department reportedly suspended its investigation and turned the case over to the Department of Justice.
This case apparently highlighted an important disagreement over the direction of Trump's China policy.
On the one hand, Huang wanted to have access to the Chinese market. On the other, authorities were supposedly afraid of the consequences this would have for national security. And Lutnick was caught in the middle of both parties.
Now, political pressure is increasing.
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Congressmen from both parties want answers.
Democrats have launched an investigation into how the Commerce Department evaluated Chinese companies approved to buy AI chips. Republicans also question the government's methods.
Jensen Huang's departure from Nvidia did not ease the pressure.
Republican Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, has declared that it is in the American national interest for Nvidia and other US AI companies to succeed.
But these companies "should never harm the nation's security" by offering Chinese companies access to their most advanced chips.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said Huang's resignation did not absolve him of responsibility. She asked Lutnick to explain why gaps in export controls remain open.
At the same time, Huang's team told Republican lawmakers on Wednesday that he intends to cooperate with their request for closed-door testimony.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment sent by the BBC. But the American Presidency told the New York Post that Trump has complete confidence in Lutnick, described as "the most transformative Secretary of Commerce in modern history."
It's a pretty emphatic show of support, particularly amid reports that officials are weighing whether Lutnick should be forced from office.
There are some obvious questions here as well. If Lutnick was indeed warned about the risks, why did his department fail to act? And if other authorities were indeed pushing for action, why did it take so long?
The BBC has contacted the Department of Commerce seeking comment. But there is an even bigger question for Trump.
The president cultivated a close relationship with Huang. He was directly involved in decisions about chip sales to China. According to The New York Times, he was briefed on the intelligence concerns.
It is becoming difficult to blame everything on the poor judgment of one businessman or one government department. Huang's personal life may have triggered the crisis, but the issues now affect the White House itself.
How much influence did Huang have? What did Trump know? And ultimately, who was responsible for protecting America's most sensitive technology?
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