According to CNBC, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent questioned whether Nvidia knowingly sold artificial intelligence GPUs to shell companies on November 13, calling for accountability among company officials. Bessent stated: "I think it is important that anyone at the company there be held accountable for that," emphasizing that Nvidia failed to implement robust controls to prevent sales to pass-through intermediaries destined for China.
Bessent also criticized Nvidia's General Counsel Timothy Teter, whose office contacted U.S. Department of Commerce officials regarding a detention in Singapore. Bessent noted he does not believe CEO Jensen Huang necessarily knew about the illicit practices, but said the board should conduct a thorough investigation into internal compliance failures.