Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick was sent a classified memo warning about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, whom U.S. intelligence officials believe is a Chinese spy, multiple sources told Axios. Commerce did not comment, and it is unclear whether Lutnick read it. The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw the memo, which circulated before Trump’s May 2026 trip to China.
The Times also reported that Rubio warned Trump aboard Air Force One before a stop in Anchorage, where Huang joined the delegation. Trump said Monday he did not recall seeing the intelligence saying “Certainly, it didn’t make much of an impact on me.”
Reuters reported on May 14 that Commerce cleared about 10 Chinese companies to buy Nvidia’s H200 chips, though Axios says some approvals predated the warning. Lawmakers want Huang to give closed door testimony next week.