Chinese AI stocks fall as Huang exit fuels chip curb push

Chinese artificial intelligence stocks fell on Friday, November 13, as investors worried that Jensen Huang's exit as Nvidia CEO will speed up a bipartisan effort in Washington to cut China off from advanced American chips. Investors sold off AI model developers Z.AI and MiniMax Group, which fell 12% and 8.4%, while data center suppliers Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology each dropped more than 8%, Reuters reported.rmb.reuters.com

Huang resigned on Thursday after reports of extramarital affairs, including one with Alice Huang, an executive at Nvidia partner Megaspeed whom U.S. authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress became interim CEO, according to Reuters. Beijing has denied that Alice Huang is a spy.reuters.com+1

Congress moves on export bills

"I think there's a developing consensus in Congress that is an important position to take," House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday, referring to limits on chip exports to China. According to a Senate aide, Republicans want to add new restrictions to the annual defense authorization bill. Lawmakers are also pushing at least four bills, among them the Chip Security Act, which would require companies to track where their processors end up, and the Remote Access Security Act, which targets Chinese firms that rent overseas data centers.rmb.reuters.com

Democrats Ron Wyden and Richard Neal have opened an investigation into why the administration approved sales to companies with "concerning links to the Chinese government, military, and sanctioned entities". House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast said Huang has agreed to testify before Thanksgiving, which falls on November 26.cbc.ca+1

Lutnick under pressure

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick oversees U.S. export controls, and he is now being questioned over whether his department did enough to keep Nvidia chips out of China, Bloomberg reported. Axios reported that Lutnick held off on acting after President Donald Trump approved crackdowns on suspected chip diversions on at least three occasions. Senior White House officials have discussed whether to push Lutnick out, according to Reuters sources, but a White House official said Trump "maintains complete confidence in the secretary".bloomberg.com+1

Criticism is coming from both parties. "Apparently, the Department of Commerce greenlit the sale of $4 billion in advanced chips to the spy's company," Republican Sen. John Kennedy told CNN. Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton said Lutnick "has failed America and he's got to go".cbc.ca

China's compute squeeze

The U.S. has not added any companies to its Entity List since October 2025. Last December, the administration let Nvidia sell H200 chips to China in exchange for a share of the revenue. Chinese AI firms are now trying to rent Nvidia-powered computing capacity abroad ahead of possible new limits. Gavekal Dragonomics said the scandal "will make it ever harder for Chinese AI companies to gain access to the advanced compute they so desperately crave".fidelity.com+3