Lutnick Clashed With Officials Over Nvidia Chip Sales, Report Says

Howard Lutnick, who runs the U.S. Commerce Department, has frequently clashed with other top officials over the past year about how tightly to regulate sales of advanced technology, particularly sales of Nvidia chips to Asia, according to a New York Times report published on November 13, 2026.

The Commerce Department oversees enforcement of restrictions on technology sales, which are the rules that limit what can be sold abroad, including to China. The report says most senior Trump administration officials agree that the United States should more aggressively tighten controls on Nvidia's advanced chips. The goal, as described in the report, is to keep China from using those chips to catch up in artificial intelligence.

The disagreement has also reached the question of how the department itself has handled the company. Others in the administration and in Congress have accused the Commerce Department of becoming too cozy with Nvidia and its co-founder, Jensen Huang. The department has also been accused of failing to adequately police Nvidia's chip sales to China.

Within the department, Nvidia is treated differently from other firms, according to current and former officials cited by the Times. The company's issues are given high priority and sent through specific channels, the report says.

The report describes a dispute that has been running for months inside the government. Nvidia, a chipmaker whose processors are central to advanced AI systems, sits at the center of the debate over how far export restrictions should go.