Scott Bessent’s public rebuke of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has made a stalled export-control case a test of how Washington decides who can access advanced AI chips.
Why Megaspeed drew scrutiny
Megaspeed International, based in Singapore, lets customers rent computing power from data centers equipped with Nvidia GPUs. Customers can use powerful chips located outside China without owning or importing them.
U.S. and Singaporean authorities have investigated whether equipment bought for Megaspeed’s regional operations was instead routed to China, where access to the most advanced chips is restricted. The allegations remain unproven. Megaspeed has denied wrongdoing, and Nvidia said its checks found no reason to believe products were diverted.
How the investigation unfolded
CNBC reported that investigations into Megaspeed and others began in Singapore in February 2025; U.S. Commerce officials were also investigating possible export-control violations. The New York Times reported that Nvidia’s general counsel contacted Commerce investigators in August 2025 about the case, citing senior Commerce official Jeff Kessler’s permission. Investigators declined a meeting.
The Times reported that the inquiry was later transferred to the Justice Department at its request. A Commerce official said Kessler had not directed investigators to share information with Nvidia. The handoff may help explain the enforcement history, but reporting does not show that it legally prevented a separate effort to list Megaspeed.
Who decides on a listing
An interagency End-User Review Committee decides whether to add companies to the Entity List. Commerce chairs it; State, Defense and Energy are voting members. Treasury is consulted as needed but does not vote. USTR, which Bessent said backed action, is not listed among the voting members.
Participating agencies can propose a listing to the chair. The committee must vote within 30 days after a proposal is circulated unless all agree to postpone, and a majority is needed to add a company. Bessent’s account of agency support does not establish that a formal proposal was circulated or a vote held. Commerce has procedural control, but cannot list a company by itself.
What could happen next
The Financial Times reported that Commerce delayed Megaspeed’s proposed inclusion on the list. The department had also sought more information on some companies, though it was unclear whether Megaspeed was among them. The New York Times reported that Lutnick resisted broader limits on Nvidia chip sales to China; his precise reasons for the delay have not been established publicly. Bessent said President Donald Trump had made clear China should not receive Nvidia chips above the H100 level, and that leakage could give China an AI advantage.
A listing would require licenses for covered exports, reexports or transfers involving Megaspeed. The listing would specify which items were covered and how license requests would be reviewed. Restrictions could cut off access to future Nvidia hardware and warn distributors and cloud providers away from risky transactions.
The next visible steps are a Justice Department investigation and Lutnick’s expected testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on December 10. A criminal investigation and an Entity List decision are separate: listing is based on national-security risk, not a criminal conviction. No public timetable for a listing has been reported. The key question is whether Commerce brings a proposal to a committee vote or asks for more evidence again.