Speaker Johnson says Congress developing consensus on limiting chip exports to China

​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.