Lutnick should have prevented the diversion of sensitive Nvidia AI chips to China, critics charge

November 12, 2026 / 6:33 PM EST / CBS News

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is under fire by critics asking whether his ties to Chinese companies and friendship with Nvidia's ousted CEO Jensen Huang contributed to the federal agency's lack of oversight over billions in Nvidia AI chip sales, CBS has learned.

Before President Trump nominated Lutnick to lead the Commerce Department, Lutnick was the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a New York investment bank which held about $1.2 billion in Nvidia stock at the time.

Lutnick developed a warm relationship with Huang, who resigned Thursday as reports of a growing number of affairs caused new uncertainty about the world's dominant AI chipmaker. One of Huang's alleged relationships was with Alice Huang (no relation to Jensen Huang), who is believed by the U.S. to be a Chinese spy. She ran Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based company that became one of Nvidia's biggest customers for AI chips and is suspected of illegally shipping Nvidia's most advanced AI chips to Chinese entities, circumventing a U.S. ban.

As commerce secretary, Lutnick took the helm of an agency responsible for policing exports of sensitive technology to adversaries and global rivals.

One way the Commerce…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/