Follow-Up: Senators Warren and Coons Tell Three Top Officials to Preserve All Nvidia China Export Records
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons wrote on November 11 to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, asking the Trump administration to preserve all documents tied to Nvidia's exports of advanced super-intelligence chips to China, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the letter, and a Reuters follow-up the same day. The senators gave the three officials until Tuesday, November 17, to confirm that the records hold is in place.
According to the reports, the preservation demand covers all records regarding the export of Nvidia's advanced chips to China or to entities that may divert such chips to China; communications involving Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang; records concerning Alice Huang, the executive alleged to be a Chinese intelligence operative; and any correspondence between Huang and President Trump. Warren and Coons also requested a congressional briefing on the national security risks posed by the suspected intelligence operation.
"This incident raises significant concerns about the federal government's ability to effectively enforce our export controls and protect our national security," the senators wrote. According to Reuters, the letter also asks whether prudent defensive counter-intelligence action was taken and whether national security recommendations were overruled.
Warren is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, and Coons is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. A document-preservation letter of this kind is typically a step that precedes congressional hearings or a formal investigation.
The letter follows investigative reporting by The New York Times and others. According to those reports, Huang's relationship with Alice Huang allegedly aided at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to China, and Rubio had previously briefed President Trump on the matter. These are allegations raised in media reporting; they have not been proven, and Huang faces no criminal charge. On the same day, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board was meeting to decide whether Huang should remain in his role, with removal among the options under consideration.
Since GSM began covering this matter, the newsroom has written to Nvidia's media department seeking comment and had received no formal reply as of publication. GSM will continue to follow official developments.
Related: Times Names Nvidia VP Kimberly Powell in Huang Investigation; Board Reportedly to Meet on His Future
New York Times Reports Nvidia Board Discussed Jensen Huang's Future
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：参议员 Elizabeth Warren 的官方肖像。美国参议院官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons，本篇为 16:9 裁切版。 / Photo: Official portrait of Senator Elizabeth Warren. U.S. Senate photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped to 16:9 for this story.