Jensen Huang might have stepped down from his roles at the top of NVIDIA, but he won’t be sliding out of the spotlight just yet. The company’s former CEO and president is set to testify before Congress by Thanksgiving, according to House representatives.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast said Huang agreed to testify on Wednesday — hours before NVIDIA announced his resignation with immediate effect — after lawmakers threatened him with a subpoena. It appears the hearing will take place behind closed doors (which is unfortunate, because that’s likely to be some spicy testimony). However, Mast expects it to be filmed and transcribed, according to Bloomberg. The House’s Intelligence and China-focused committees will join the Foreign Affairs cohort for the hearing.
“Jensen and I have been very at odds as some of you already know on export controls, but NVIDIA is a very important company to the United States of America,” Mast said. “I don’t want to see anything hurt in NVIDIA, but he has some very serious questions to answer.”
NVIDIA has been in turmoil after it emerged over the weekend that the company was investigating Huang over an affair to which he admitted, allegedly with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. President Donald Trump said the FBI is investigating the situation as well.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Huang had another affair, this time with Kimberly Powell, an NVIDIA executive who reported to him. The company’s board met later that day to determine Huang’s future. Colette Kress, NVIDIA’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, is stepping in as interim CEO while the company seeks a permanent successor.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Alice Huang, the alleged spy, to determine whether entities associated with her were involved in attempts to smuggle Super Micro Computer products to China. The DoJ is also said to be taking the lead in an investigation into her former company, the Singapore-based Megaspeed International, over alleged smuggling of US-made chips into China in defiance of export restrictions. The company said it would cooperate with the probe.
Officials in Singapore opened an investigation into Alice Huang, Megaspeed and associated individuals last year. The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Thursday that she was barred from re-entering the country after police determined she knowingly offered up inaccurate information to downplay her role in Megaspeed. However, they “concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish that Huang had committed any offences relating to the possible inaccurate declarations for which Megaspeed was being investigated.” The investigation into Megaspeed and six other individuals is ongoing.
