WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) – US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday there was a growing consensus in Congress on limiting exports of semiconductor chips to China after a scandal forced out Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
“The export controls on chips to China has been a big issue around here. I’m in favor of limiting those exports, and I think there’s a developing consensus in Congress that is an important position to take. Especially in the light of recent developments, it makes sense,” Johnson told reporters.
“So we’ll see where that goes. I think it might change a few minds around here.”
Nvidia said on Thursday that Huang is stepping down, leaving the AI industry without its biggest champion and clouding the future of the chipmaker he built into an AI powerhouse.
Pressure mounted on Huang after reports he had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman who US authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. She was an executive at Megaspeed, a Nvidia cloud partner that Washington suspects of helping China obtain advanced AI chips restricted under US export controls.
Asked if Huang should appear before Congress, Johnson said he had been told the Department of Justice was looking into the matter and if members of Congress wanted to question him, it would happen.
“But there still seems to me to be a lot of facts yet to be determined. So I’m reserving personal judgment on this,” Johnson said, adding Huang did the right thing by resigning.
A trio of Republicans in the House of Representatives have asked Huang to provide a closed-door briefing about his alleged relationship with a Chinese spy.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Writing by Doina Chiacu;Editing by David Ljunggren)
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