Senate Republicans are escalating their scrutiny of US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, demanding his testimony over allegations that his department failed to block Nvidia Corp.’s advanced AI chips from being sent to China.
Senator Jim Banks has called for Lutnick to address what he describes as “glaring mistakes” that allowed Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based cloud computing firm accused of smuggling Nvidia chips to China, to evade placement on a US export blacklist.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott has also joined the call for Lutnick’s testimony, signaling growing bipartisan pressure on the Commerce Department’s enforcement of export controls.
The push for testimony comes amid heightened tensions over China’s access to cutting-edge US technology, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence.