White House Clash Erupts Over Nvidia Espionage Scandal

The first internal conflict has erupted within the White House over the Nvidia espionage scandal, with Treasury Secretary Bessent accusing Commerce Secretary Lutnick of failing to act despite intelligence reports. The scandal follows the ouster of Jensen Huang as CEO after a sexual scandal involving Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive and alleged Chinese spy. Bessent stated in a CNBC interview that officials from his department, the Pentagon, and State had requested restrictions on Megaspeed for months, but Commerce holds the authority to add companies to the export restriction list and never did. The New York Times previously revealed Commerce halted its investigation into Megaspeed at Nvidia's request, transferring the case to the Justice Department. President Trump has downplayed the matter, saying he "probably" read a State Department report on the case but was not impressed. Huang has been a key AI policy advisor to Trump, advocating for relaxed export restrictions on chips to China. Congress has summoned both Huang and Lutnick to testify, with hearings scheduled after Thanksgiving and on December 10.