Treasury Secretary Bessent blames Commerce for Nvidia chip scandal

Bessent criticises Commerce officials

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that his department backed adding Megaspeed to the trade blacklist for months. He argued that the Commerce Department holds the pen and failed in its internal processes. Bessent expressed frustration that President Donald Trump made it clear China should not receive Nvidia chips above H100s. Any leakage of these advanced chips hurts great companies and gives Chinese rivals an advantage in the AI race.

Megaspeed trade volume details

Megaspeed, a firm based in Singapore, is said to have exchanged over $4 billion in Nvidia processors during a two-year span. It is suspected of helping Chinese firms bypass export controls by routing purchases from Southeast Asia to China. US media outlets identified former director Alice Huang as a suspected Chinese intelligence operative linked to Jensen Huang. The two individuals are not related, and Beijing has denied all spying allegations against the company.

Huang resignation and board action

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday following reports of an extramarital affair with Alice Huang. His board said it will investigate the matter while three US Congress committee chairs asked him to attend a briefing on November 18. Bessent noted that media coverage focused too much on Huang's private life rather than corporate security failures. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick leads the department facing this rare public rebuke from another cabinet member.