Mast says China chip curbs ‘very likely’ in defense bill

Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive on Thursday. Hours later, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Congress will "very likely" add new limits on advanced chip exports to China to this year's must-pass defense bill. House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, said the controversy over Huang's relationship with a suspected Chinese spy has given the effort new momentum. "If he doesn't know who he's in bed with, he doesn't know where all the chips are going either," Mast told reporters.politico.com

Nvidia's board said Huang stepped down as president, CEO and director effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress is now interim CEO. He resigned days after admitting to an affair, reportedly with Alice Huang, a former executive at the Singapore-based firm Megaspeed whom U.S. officials believe worked for Chinese intelligence. Beijing denies the spying claims.afp.com+1

Three bills in play

Lawmakers want to attach three bills to the National Defense Authorization Act. The Chip Security Act would require location-verification technology in advanced chips to stop smuggling. The MATCH Act would tighten curbs on chipmaking equipment and press allies to match U.S. rules. The AI Overwatch Act would let Congress review licenses for advanced AI chip sales. A Senate version of the defense bill already includes several of these measures.cnbc.com+1

OpenAI has privately told congressional offices it supports all three bills, Politico reported. That is a shift for a company that had softened its push for export controls while deepening its financial ties to Nvidia. David Meale of Eurasia Group said the scandal has weakened Nvidia's "singular ability to slow the progress of those bills." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House China committee chair John Moolenaar have both called for the measures to be passed.politico.com+1

Mast also wants Huang to testify within about a week and did not rule out a subpoena. He declined to say whether he has confidence in Jeffrey Kessler, who runs the Commerce Department bureau that oversees export controls.politico.com

Shadow over the APEC summit

The push comes days before President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18-19. On Thursday, China's foreign ministry accused Washington of inventing "spy" stories to justify a technology "blockade".nst.com.my+1

Bloomberg analyst Michael Deng, a former Commerce Department official, told Semafor that Chinese negotiators will know "Trump may not necessarily be able to hold any commitments he makes" as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress. Paul Triolo of DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group warned that Beijing has made clear it will respond if the MATCH Act passes. China, he said, "could ratchet up controls on rare earths and magnets that would be very damaging to U.S. industry".cnbc.com+1