Members of Congress are calling on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to resign and momentum is building to subpoena the executive, whose company is a leader in advanced artificial intelligence chips.
Senate banking committee member Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., doubled down Wednesday on his call for Huang to resign, and a key Democratic House oversight panel member and House Republican piled on.
"As a matter of his own conscience, he should resign," Cramer told CNBC, in response to revelations that Huang had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy as the chipmaker he co-founded was given permission from the U.S. government to sell its technology to China.
Huang, who leads a company that's been a chief beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom, on Sunday admitted to having an affair with a woman whom news outlets have reported U.S. intelligence concluded was a Chinese spy. The revelation is sending shockwaves through Washington, with lawmakers now fearing that U.S. AI dominance could be at risk.
"What bothers me at the end of it is what we don't know is what she knows about him that can be utilized," Cramer said, referring to Alice Huang and Jensen Huang, who are not related. "This is a guy that's right now so vulnerable to extortion, blackmail. I just don't think, as a national security matter, we can run the risk."