Democrats Launch Probe Into Nvidia, Accuse CEO Jensen Huang of a “Scheme” With Trump

Democrats in Congress have opened an inquiry into how the Trump administration handled Nvidia’s chip sales to China, focusing on the government’s export approvals and its dealings with the company.

The inquiry was announced Thursday by Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. As members of the minority party, they can request information but cannot compel the administration to provide it.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the lawmakers asked the department to preserve records about what they described as a potentially unlawful arrangement. Under the deal, President Trump approved sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China on the condition that the Taiwan-made chips first be shipped to the United States. The letter says Trump then imposed a tariff on them, effectively taking a cut of Nvidia’s China sales through what the lawmakers characterize as an unconstitutional export-tax system. The Commerce Department subsequently issued an export license.

The revenue-sharing arrangement was publicly reported in 2025. Nvidia and AMD agreed to give the U.S. government 15% of revenue from certain chip sales to China in exchange for export licenses, according to the Associated Press.

The letter also asks why the Commerce Department continued to approve purchases by Megaspeed, a Singapore-based Nvidia customer, after U.S. intelligence reportedly raised concerns about the company and its executive, Alice Huang. U.S. officials suspect Megaspeed helped route advanced Nvidia chips into China. The lawmakers further questioned why other Asian firms were reportedly allowed to buy chips despite having no physical presence at their listed addresses.

Their scrutiny extends to Nvidia’s donations to projects associated with Trump. The letter notes that the export deal was approved after Trump learned about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, who is accused of being a Chinese spy, and after Nvidia donated $26 million to Trump-related projects, including a planned ballroom. The lawmakers appear to be asking whether Trump used his knowledge of the relationship to obtain donations from Nvidia.

The inquiry follows Jensen Huang’s resignation as Nvidia CEO on Thursday. He had admitted to an affair with Alice Huang and agreed to testify before a separate, Republican-led group of congressional committees. That group had threatened to subpoena him if he did not agree to appear.

This is the second congressional investigation launched since news of the alleged spy affair emerged. While the Republican-led inquiry is focused on hearing from Huang, the Democrats’ inquiry targets the Trump administration’s decisions on Nvidia’s China sales and its dealings with the company.

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