Jensen Huang agrees to testify before Congress by Thanksgiving

Brian Mast, who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, told reporters Thursday that the pressure campaign had worked: former Nvidia chief Jensen Huang committed on Wednesday to a closed-door appearance sometime before the Thanksgiving holiday, Bloomberg and NBC News reported. The commitment came only after several senior members of Congress threatened him with a subpoena.

The agreement follows a November 4 letter in which Mast, John Moolenaar — who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party — and Rick Crawford, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, asked Huang to appear before their committees. Huang had already left the chief-executive post, after reports emerged of an alleged romantic involvement with a woman the U.S. suspects of spying on behalf of China.

Mast, who said he and Huang have repeatedly clashed over export controls, called Nvidia vital to the United States but added, “I don’t want to see anything hurt in Nvidia, but he has some very serious questions to answer.” Lawmakers plan to hold the session privately, but Mast said he anticipates a video recording and written transcript will result.

Why it matters

Huang’s agreement to testify, even as he exits Nvidia’s boardroom, shows Congress intends to pursue the national-security questions around his China ties regardless of his corporate title — keeping scrutiny of Nvidia’s export-control compliance alive past the leadership change.