U.S. Department of State stories

Nov 12, 2026

Commerce Secretary Lutnick faces bipartisan calls to resign over Nvidia chip scandal

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick drew intensifying scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats alike over his department's role in allowing Nvidia chip sales that may have benefited China, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal calling for his resignation. Reports indicate Lutnick frequently clashed with other officials over chip export controls.

Nov 12, 20265 sources

Top claims

▪The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is finalizing export rules to restrict AI chip shipments to seven additional countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore
▪Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut publicly called on U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign on November 13, 2026, accusing him of shielding Nvidia from federal oversight
▪Singapore-based Megaspeed International reportedly struck a November 2023 deal with Alibaba to acquire Nvidia servers and subsequently shipped advanced AI chips directly to cloud-computing providers in China

Topics

Congress U.S. Congress Senate Banking Committee Tim Cook US–China AI competition U.S. technology trade restrictions Scott Bessent Federal agencies Suspected Chinese spy close to Jensen Huang Trump administration AI chips Chip export controls

Related entities

China Central Intelligence Agency Indonesia Malaysia Singapore Thailand