Lawmakers probe Trump's 15% cut from NVIDIA's China chip sales
What's the story
Democrats have launched an investigation into the Trump administration's approval of NVIDIA chip sales to China in exchange for 15% of sales revenue. The inquiry was initiated by Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. As part of their investigation, they have called for the preservation of records related to a deal they deem suspicious and possibly illegal.
Scandal details
NVIDIA CEO ousted over extramarital affair with suspected Chinese spy
The investigation comes after the ouster of NVIDIA's founder and CEO, Jensen Huang.
He was removed from the company he founded after admitting to an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.
Alice was an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that US officials believe may have been involved in smuggling advanced NVIDIA chips into China.
Inquiry focus
Deal with China may be unconstitutional export tax, say lawmakers
The Democratic lawmakers are probing an agreement that allowed NVIDIA to export its H200 AI chips to China in return for a share of the sales revenue for the US government.
They have questioned whether this arrangement was legal or if it functioned as an unconstitutional export tax, with the government taking a cut from NVIDIA's sales.
Company scrutiny
Inquiry questions Commerce Department's license approvals for chip exports
The inquiry also focuses on Megaspeed, a suspected accomplice in supplying advanced NVIDIA chips to China.
The lawmakers have questioned why the Commerce Department approved Megaspeed's chip purchases despite concerns about the company and its executive, Alice Huang.
They have also asked why export licenses were granted to other Asian companies "with no physical presence at their listed addresses."
Donation scrutiny
Did NVIDIA's political donations influence Trump's decisions?
The lawmakers are also looking into whether NVIDIA's political donations, including a $26 million contribution to Trump's projects, influenced the administration's actions.
The inquiry comes after Trump revealed in a "60 Minutes" interview that he had threatened an unnamed AI executive with jail time, after which the executive "totally changed."
This has raised further questions about the relationship between tech companies and government administrations.