U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick to testify before Congress on AI chip export controls

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to voluntarily testify before the Senate Banking Committee to explain the Commerce Department's role in regulating advanced AI chip exports. Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott separately asked Lutnick to appear on December 3 and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on December 10. Multiple reports had previously said Lutnick resisted a crackdown on Nvidia, including adding Singaporean data company Megaspeed, suspected of transshipping chips to China, to the Entity List. Treasury Secretary Bessent said the Treasury, Defense Department, trade department and State Department had for months supported adding Megaspeed to the Entity List, but the Commerce Department and its Bureau of Industry and Security hold the decision. Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday, and a White House official said Trump maintains full confidence in Lutnick.