Bessent Accuses Commerce of Delaying Megaspeed Blacklist as Lutnick Faces Ouster Talks
Updated
Updated · CNN · Nov 13
Bessent Accuses Commerce of Delaying Megaspeed Blacklist as Lutnick Faces Ouster Talks
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Nov 13
Summary
Scott Bessent said the Commerce Department failed to act on broad administration support to blacklist Nvidia customer Megaspeed, publicly escalating an internal fight over chip controls.
Bessent told CNBC that Treasury, State, the Pentagon and the U.S. Trade Representative backed the move, but Commerce "has the pen" and did not follow through.
Trump officials have long suspected Megaspeed of routing advanced Nvidia chips into China, and Bessent said any leakage above the A100 threshold defied Trump's directive and aided Beijing in the AI race.
Howard Lutnick is now facing internal dismissal discussions after fallout from Jensen Huang's ouster, though the White House said Thursday that Trump still has complete confidence in his commerce secretary.
The dispute sharpened after reports tied Huang to a Megaspeed executive with alleged China intelligence links, and after a tense Situation Room clash last week between Bessent and Lutnick.