Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has asked Nvidia's board to explain export-control failures within 10 days. The request follows allegations that advanced chips reached China through a Singapore-based company, Megaspeed. Bessent also criticized the Commerce Department for not acting on earlier recommendations.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put Nvidia's board on a 10-day clock to answer for export-control failures and the national security risks tied to them. He made the demand on November 15, 2026.
The demand centers on allegations that advanced Nvidia AI chips were illicitly routed to China through Megaspeed, a company based in Singapore.
What Bessent is asking for
Bessent called for immediate clarification from Nvidia's directors on the company's compliance with US export controls. He is concerned that potential breaches could undermine national security.
Under current US policy, Nvidia cannot sell chips above the H200/H100 tier to China. Washington cites the risk of technology leakage as the reason.
The alleged problem is not that Nvidia sold banned chips directly to China. Instead, the chips may have reached China through an intermediary in a third country.
Bessent also targets Commerce
However, his remarks were not aimed solely at Nvidia. Bessent also expressed frustration with the Commerce Department, led by Secretary Howard Lutnick, because Commerce did not act on earlier recommendations to add Megaspeed to the US entity list. Multiple government agencies had reportedly supported that move.
Congress has taken notice. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott has reportedly summoned Lutnick and Jensen Huang to testify about export-control enforcement, and Nvidia may face a broader investigation into its sales practices and compliance culture.
Timing ahead of Nvidia's earnings
The scrutiny lands as Nvidia prepares to report its fiscal Q3 earnings. The Megaspeed allegations raise a different concern from past restrictions: whether Nvidia can verify where its products end up.
For shareholders, the near-term risk is uncertainty. Compliance failures, if confirmed, could bring restrictions on product sales and hit revenue.
Whether Commerce moves to add Megaspeed to the entity list could become an early test of how aggressively the administration plans to enforce chip export rules.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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