China Warns US Against New Chip Export Curbs as Nvidia Scandal Brews

China fired back Friday at U.S. lawmakers pushing for fresh limits on semiconductor exports, with foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning telling a regular briefing that Beijing "has consistently opposed the abuse of export control measures, which disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains and serves no party's interests." Mao also urged the two countries to carry out the consensus their heads of state reached and keep trade ties steady.

The warning lands days into a scandal engulfing Nvidia. Jensen Huang resigned as the AI chip giant's CEO on Thursday and has admitted to an affair, reportedly with Alice Huang, a former senior executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. The two are not related.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is now under fire over whether his ties to Chinese companies and his friendship with Jensen Huang helped leave billions in Nvidia AI chip sales short on federal oversight, according to CBS News. The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The New York Times reported last month that roughly a year ago President Trump was briefed on intelligence suggesting Alice Huang was a Chinese asset who had grown close to Jensen Huang, and decided to take no action. Per the Times, U.S. officials circulated a memo last spring citing intelligence alleging she spied for China's Ministry of State Security.

Beijing rejected those allegations Thursday, calling them a "pretext for imposing a technological blockade" aimed at slowing China's progress in artificial intelligence. House Speaker Mike Johnson said a growing consensus is forming in Congress to tighten chip export controls on China further.