Overview
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pressed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a White House Situation Room meeting about why Megaspeed has not been placed on the Commerce Department’s entity list, and Lutnick replied that he would "look into it."
- Reporting says Lutnick has spent the past year reversing or slowing internal efforts to hold Megaspeed accountable because of concerns that sanctions would escalate U.S.-China trade tensions.
- The New York Times reported that Commerce Undersecretary Jeff Kessler abruptly stopped an investigation after Nvidia intervened, and the Financial Times reported broader delays in blacklisting despite pressure from other U.S. agencies.
- Megaspeed is accused of illegally diverting U.S. semiconductor chips to China, and scrutiny intensified after accounts tying Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to an affair with a Megaspeed employee who is described in reporting as a suspected Chinese-linked asset.
- If Commerce does not add Megaspeed to the entity list, the dispute could raise oversight and national security questions, risk further political fallout inside the administration, and leave U.S. export controls as the primary remaining tool to restrict sensitive chip transfers.