Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is recognized by President Trump during remarks at the White House AI Summit in Washington, D.C., Jul. 23, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

1. Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia CEO after having an extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese spy, handing Congress a fresh reason to lock chip export safeguards into the final text of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

• Chip CEO compromised: The former Nvidia CEO’s resignation comes after he admitted on Sunday to having an affair with tech industry executive Alice Huang, whom U.S. intelligence has reportedly identified as a Chinese asset. The New York Times reported on October 29 that U.S. intelligence briefed President Trump roughly a year ago on Alice Huang’s close relationship with Jensen Huang.
• Past scrutiny: U.S. officials began investigating Megaspeed and Alice Huang in 2024, after the company started importing billions of dollars’ worth of advanced Nvidia equipment into Malaysia. The imports were legal, but officials feared the chips were then being illegally routed into China. U.S. authorities separately suspect that Megaspeed, Alice Huang’s former employer and a Singapore-based Nvidia customer, helped Chinese companies obtain restricted Nvidia chips. Jensen Huang has been a vocal critic of U.S. chip export controls, and Nvidia has pushed for fewer restrictions on selling its chips to China.
• Hearings are coming: The chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, China Select, and Intelligence committees requested that Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s general counsel, and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security each appear before Congress in early December. Jensen and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also received a similar request from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC). This comes amid reports that the Commerce Department has not acted on calls from other federal agencies to add Megaspeed, where Alice Huang, to the Department’s Entity List.
• Why it matters: The Huang-Huang scandal is only the latest incident to demonstrate that Washington cannot leave chipmakers to police their own sales to China. “Chinese companies smuggle advanced chips through middlemen, remotely access American chips in overseas data centers and buy chipmaking equipment from foreign suppliers operating under weaker rules,” warns FDD’s Craig Singleton. American AI developers have also detailed how Chinese competitors hijack U.S. models and use their responses to train Chinese models, a technique known as distillation, Singleton adds.
• Time to take action: To address this threat, Congress must pass key provisions in the FY27 NDAA that would cut off the pathways China uses to access advanced chips. Chief among these is the bipartisan AI OVERWATCH Act, which would block most advanced AI chip sales to China and strengthen congressional oversight of future chip exports. Congress should also ensure the bipartisan MATCH Act and BLADE Act are in the final FY27 NDAA. The MATCH Act would align allied export controls to block China’s indigenous production of advanced AI chips, while the BLADE Act would penalize foreign actors that use model extraction attacks to distill the capabilities of America’s top AI models. Taken together, these measures would close many of the loopholes China uses to access America’s advanced AI chips, explains Singleton.

An American and Israeli flag sit on a conference table. (DoD Photo by Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz)

2. Israeli President Isaac Herzog tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new government on Sunday at a pivotal moment for the U.S.-Israel political and military relationship.

• Seizing the mandate: After Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc failed to win an outright majority in last month’s parliamentary elections, a majority of Knesset members indicated that Eisenkot should be tapped to form a coalition government. He plans to build consensus with four Jewish opposition parties and soon swear in a “national-emergency government.” While other parties can join his coalition, they must meet certain core principles, including keeping Israel Jewish and democratic, universal civil or military conscription, and declaring Hamas a terrorist organization. He has also resisted Netanyahu’s calls for a unity government. Eisenkot now has just over three weeks to form a government, with a possible two-week extension. If he is unsuccessful, the mandate will pass to another candidate, likely Netanyahu.
• Delicate moment for the relationship: As Israel forms a new government, U.S. support for America’s most important ally in the Middle East has slipped to its lowest point in years amid Israel’s fight against Hamas and other terrorist groups since the deadly October 7 attack. Moreover, Israel’s enemies are working to drive a wedge between Jerusalem and Washington, including by capitalizing on some Israeli unforced errors. As FDD’s Bradley Bowman and Jonathan Schanzer explain, “If the next government in Israel… fails to punish and end lawlessness and cruelty by anarchists in the West Bank, there could be painful consequences.” They warn that waning support for Israel could devolve into a “full rupture,” leaving both countries less secure.
• Stakes of the alliance: As China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are cooperating more closely than ever, the United States needs capable and motivated partners of its own. With the most powerful military in the Middle East, Israel lets Washington “focus more on deterring and defeating aggression by Beijing, Moscow, or Pyongyang,” Bowman and Schanzer explain. Israel also relies on American-made platforms and imported inputs, making waning U.S. support a strategic liability for Israel as well, the pair add.
• What to watch in the West Bank: The West Bank is one area where FDD’s Jonathan Conricus expects an Eisenkot-led government would diverge from Netanyahu’s. With pressure mounting from Europe and possibly a new Congress, Israelis understand their current response to the settler violence has been insufficient. And the election results mean that far-right Israeli politicians now hold “far, far less leverage” over Netanyahu, who will remain in charge as caretaker PM. Moreover, redirecting security resources to police violent settlers in the West Bank could curb some of the violence, a step that is “in Bibi’s hands,” Schanzer explains.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are greeted by Russian Presidential Envoy Kirill Dmitriev. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

1. The United States brought Russian and Ukrainian delegations together in Abu Dhabi this week for their first direct discussions since February. Yet U.S. efforts to advance peace have been hampered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who continues to demonstrate that diplomacy without pressure does not work.

• Kremlin peace talks: The trilateral coincided with other Russia-Ukraine talks this week, including larger meetings with European partners and bilateral conversations. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Thursday. One goal of the meeting was to win Putin’s approval for European participation in regional security talks, Kushner said. But Moscow has rejected direct European involvement in talks and any post-ceasefire European deployment to Ukraine, citing European countries’ military support for Ukraine. Nonetheless, Witkoff left Moscow saying that Europeans will attend the next meeting.
• Russia is stalling: “Russia has done little to show interest in conceding its maximalist position throughout this negotiations process,” FDD Action’s Daniel Vaynshteyn tells us. The Kremlin has likely been emboldened by reports of renewed slowdowns on SpaceX’s Starshield network, which Kyiv relies on to intercept Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. Moscow’s refusal to budge on its demands is an effort to buy time. Working to include Europeans in talks is a positive step to ensure any deal to end the war brings about a lasting peace that deters future Russian aggression. However, additional economic pressure and sustained military support for Ukraine will be crucial to make Russia reconsider its maximalist negotiating positions, Vaynshteyn concludes.
• Pressure Moscow now: Congress should push for full implementation of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (P.L. 119-111). This law provides important authorities to squeeze Russia’s war revenues through sanctions, tariffs, and restrictions on U.S. ties to the Russian economy. Yet President Trump has waived these measures and struck a Russian diesel deal, potentially handing the Kremlin a financial lifeline as it prepares for a likely winter offensive. Congress should consider including new language in the NDAA to narrow these waiver authorities, as FDD Action joined a coalition in urging the NDAA conferees earlier this week. Lawmakers should also address the Starshield slowdown, which undermines Ukraine’s defense capabilities.