Senator Cramer and Kudlow Call for Nvidia CEO to Resign
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota on the Senate Banking Committee, called on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to step down, citing national security concerns.
"The potential for extortion is so tremendous that something as sensitive as Nvidia chips, I just think he's got to go," Cramer told POLITICO late Tuesday.
Cramer said Huang's relationship with a woman U.S. officials reportedly suspect of working for Chinese intelligence leaves him open to blackmail. "If the worst thing he did in real life is infidelity with this woman who may or may not be a Chinese spy but she might be that's enough, because whatever else there is, we don't know. And to me, that's a security risk," Cramer said.
The comments follow a New York Times report that U.S. officials determined Alice Huang, a businesswoman associated with Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed who had developed a close relationship with Huang, was a Chinese intelligence asset suspected of helping funnel advanced Nvidia chips to China.
Cramer called Nvidia's board-led investigation "fine, but not nearly enough." Nvidia did not immediately respond to POLITICO's request for comment.
Hours earlier, Larry Kudlow, the former director of the National Economic Council, urged Huang to resign on his Fox Business program.
"Step down Mr. Huang, right now," Kudlow said, characterizing such a move as a "commonsense action."
President Donald Trump defended Huang on Monday, calling him "a very honorable man." Trump said "the FBI is looking into it" and that he thought Huang would "be in good shape."
Cramer's committee has jurisdiction over legislation that could curb the sale of Nvidia chips to China. Three bills introduced in the committee, including the AI OVERWATCH Act, the Chip Security Act and the MATCH Act, are under consideration for inclusion in the National Defense Authorization Act.
Nvidia's board announced it is launching an independent investigation into the allegations that Huang was the target of a Chinese intelligence effort. The inquiry is being overseen by a committee of independent directors with assistance from outside independent counsel.
