Commerce secretary faces criticism over Nvidia AI chip sales oversight

CBS News Bay Area reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing criticism over his oversight of Nvidia AI chip sales, particularly concerning shipments to China.

Before his appointment as Commerce Secretary, Lutnick was chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, which held significant Nvidia stock, and he had a close relationship with Nvidia's former CEO Jensen Huang.

Reports indicate that one of Huang's alleged relationships involved a woman believed to be a Chinese spy who ran a company that became a major Nvidia AI chip customer and is suspected of illegally shipping advanced chips to China.

The Commerce Department, led by Lutnick, is responsible for regulating exports of sensitive technology to adversaries like China, including maintaining an Entity List to restrict access to U.S. technology products.

In 2024, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security began investigating Nvidia's chip sales to the Singapore-based company but the probe was transferred to the Department of Justice, which has not commented further.