Nvidia 스파이 스캔들로 중국 AI 칩 수출 제한을 국방수권법안에 명시하려는 움직임이 다시 살아났다.

**Key points**

- House China committee chair John Moolenaar said on Nov. 10 that he wants to know whether Huang shared privileged information, was influenced to lobby against China chip curbs, or gave China preference for scarce chips. He and two other committee chairs have asked Huang to brief them on Nov. 18.

- Lawmakers and advocates told Reuters that the Huang reports make it more likely Congress passes three chip measures now in the Senate's fiscal 2027 defense bill package: the AI Overwatch, Chip Security and MATCH Acts.

- House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he "strongly supports" China chip restrictions in the final defense bill. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks said Huang's relationship makes the concerns "even more urgent."

- The AI Overwatch Act, as introduced, would let Congress block licenses for H200-class chips and require denial for Blackwell-class parts. A similar Senate chip provision, the GAIN AI Act, was dropped from last year's final bill after White House and Nvidia lobbying.

- The Information reported that White House officials shared feedback on the export-control measures with congressional staff in late October. The White House did not comment to Reuters, and Nvidia declined to comment.

The reports that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had a relationship with a woman U.S. officials suspect of working for Chinese intelligence have handed Washington's chip hawks a new argument, and they are aiming it at the annual defense bill. Lawmakers and advocates told Reuters that Congress is now more likely to pass legislation restricting China's access to AI chips, with three measures possibly headed into the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2027.

On Monday, Nov. 9, Jeffries said he "strongly supports" restrictions on chip sales to China in the final version of the defense bill, after a classified briefing for congressional leaders that touched only briefly on Nvidia. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Banks, an Indiana Republican, said in a joint statement that Huang's confirmed relationship with a suspected spy "makes these national security concerns even more urgent." They called on Congress to pass the AI Overwatch Act in the bill. Nvidia declined to comment to Reuters and says it complies with export laws.

Huang has admitted being unfaithful to his wife, and Nvidia's board is investigating whether he was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The board says it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised." The woman, former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang (no relation), has not been charged, and China's foreign ministry calls the spying allegation "unsubstantiated."

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, Rep. John Moolenaar, the Michigan Republican who chairs the House select committee on China, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that Congress needs to "get to the bottom" of Huang's relationship. He said he wants to know whether Huang shared privileged information with Alice Huang, whether he was influenced to lobby against blocking chip sales to China, and whether China got preference in buying Nvidia's limited supply of advanced chips. "We cannot allow the premier company at the forefront of this to, in some way, be irresponsible," Moolenaar said, urging Nvidia to run a thorough internal investigation rather than damage control. Those are the questions chip hawks are using to argue for the defense-bill measures below. Separately, The Information reported that Huang's ties to Alice Huang helped move more than $7 billion of Nvidia chips to Chinese companies. Reuters said it could not verify that claim.

## Three bills already in the Senate package

The measures are not new. The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced all three earlier this year, and they now sit in the Senate's NDAA manager's package:

- **AI Overwatch Act.** Gives Congress power over advanced chip exports. As introduced in the House by Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, it would treat AI chip sales to adversary nations much like arms sales. Commerce would have to notify the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Banking committees at least 30 days before licensing chips such as Nvidia's H200 or AMD's MI325X, and Congress could block a sale by joint resolution. Blackwell-class chips would face mandatory denial. The House text would also end existing licenses for covered exports to countries of concern.

- **Chip Security Act.** Requires companies to track their chips to combat smuggling. Reps. Bill Foster, an Illinois Democrat, and Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican, wrote the House version, which passed committee unanimously. "It's time to get it across the finish line," Foster said.

- **MATCH Act.** Pushes U.S. allies to restrict more chipmaking equipment sales to China.

Jeffries described the Senate bill in similar terms: more congressional authority over AI chip exports to China, pressure on allies over manufacturing equipment, and a requirement that businesses track their AI chips abroad. The Senate version may differ from the House text Lawfare described, and the final language will come out of House-Senate negotiations.

Congress has been here before. The GAIN AI Act, which would have required chipmakers to serve U.S. buyers before exporting to China and other countries of concern, passed the Senate in last year's defense bill but was "dropped from the final defense bill" after lobbying by the White House and Nvidia, Lawfare reported. Its sponsors included Banks, Warren and Chris Coons.

## Nvidia and the White House are the hurdles

A former congressional staffer who dealt directly with Nvidia over several months told Reuters the company is the biggest opponent of the Chip Security and AI Overwatch Acts. The Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Nvidia, opposes the measures on the grounds that they could hurt U.S. competitiveness and complicate export-control policy. Until the Justice Department brought chip-smuggling indictments last year, Huang and Nvidia had argued that no smuggling was happening, Reuters reported.

The bigger obstacle is the White House, according to Chris MacKenzie of Americans for Responsible Innovation, a nonprofit backing the bills. He told Reuters it would be costly for the administration to side with Nvidia against Congress now. The Information reported that White House officials shared feedback with congressional staff in late October on the export-control measures under consideration for the defense bill. The White House did not comment on the measures to Reuters.

President Donald Trump has backed Huang. He called him "an amazing guy" and said Huang told him he had no idea the woman was a spy, while saying the FBI is looking into the matter, Semafor reported. Semafor's Brendan Ruberry wrote that the scandal will strengthen China hawks who have been sidelined by a White House willing to make deals with Beijing, noting that Huang lobbied successfully to remove some export controls on Nvidia chips and travelled with Trump to Beijing. Trump said he expects Chinese leader Xi Jinping to raise the matter when they meet next week in Shenzhen.

Republican leaders have said less. Senate Majority Leader John Thune spoke generally about responding to national security threats, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress is "still gathering information," according to Semafor.

## Who holds the gavels in January

The lame-duck Congress has to finish this year's defense bill. If the provisions are dropped again, they return to a Congress run by Democrats from Jan. 3, with several chip hawks in line for committee chairs.

Chris Coons, expected to chair Senate Foreign Relations, has said "Congress will investigate and get answers." He wants a probe into whether national security was compromised.

Elizabeth Warren is expected to chair Senate Banking, one of the two committees the AI Overwatch Act would notify before chip licenses. In March, she and Banks urged Commerce to suspend or reconsider Nvidia's China export licenses and run a full security review.

Richard Blumenthal, who expects to chair an investigations subcommittee, wants a Senate investigation and called the matter "also a potential corruption issue."

Hakeem Jeffries, the presumptive speaker, wants a full briefing on Nvidia. It is unclear whether he will keep the House China select committee or create a special committee on AI policy.