Today, November 11, was the deadline three House committee chairs, Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford, gave Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to confirm whether he will attend a closed-door briefing on November 18. As of Wednesday evening Israel time, no public reply had been published, and Nvidia spokesman John Rizzo declined to say whether Huang will appear.
What did lawmakers ask for?
They want to hear from Huang about his relationship with Alice Huang, a former senior figure at Singapore's Megaspeed whom US intelligence officials suspect of working for China, and about Nvidia's safeguards against espionage. The letter is not a subpoena: it is a request for a voluntary briefing and leaves Huang the option of proposing another date.
What could happen now?
Mast told ABC he is prepared to issue a subpoena if Huang does not respond by today. Such an order requires the recipient to appear or hand over documents, and refusal can lead to legal steps. It is still unclear whether a reply simply has not been made public, or whether Huang chose not to answer.
Next week is decisive
On November 17 Nvidia reports quarterly results, and the requested briefing is the next day. Until then, the board's independent committee and the Justice Department's investigation of Megaspeed will continue, and any answer, or lack of one, from Huang will also affect the stock.
