Lutnick under fire: How Trump’s commerce secretary cultivated Nvidia’s CEO while chip controls slipped

Key Points:

• Jensen Huang, former Nvidia CEO, developed a close relationship with Howard Lutnick, then Commerce Secretary under Trump, who called Nvidia "a national treasure" and supported Huang's influence in the administration.
• Huang resigned amid revelations of extramarital affairs, one possibly linked to China, sparking scrutiny of Lutnick for allegedly failing to impose export limits on Nvidia chip sales to China and for resisting blacklisting a suspicious Nvidia customer, Megaspeed.
• Despite bipartisan pressure from lawmakers demanding accountability and investigations into Lutnick's role, the White House expressed continued confidence in him, even as multiple agencies criticized the Commerce Department's inaction.
• The controversy centers on concerns that Megaspeed was circumventing US export controls to funnel advanced chips to China, with intelligence suggesting ties between Huang and Chinese intelligence via Alice Huang, a Megaspeed associate.
• The scandal has complicated US-China tech relations ahead of Trump's upcoming meeting with Xi Jinping, raising questions about export restrictions and the integrity of US technology security policies during the Trump administration.