WASHINGTON — The US Commerce Department on Friday added Megaspeed, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence cloud company, to its Entity List. The department accused the firm of helping Chinese companies obtain advanced Nvidia processors barred from export to China. The move followed a reported private clash between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over the delay, which a Commerce Department spokesperson denied took place.

A notice published by the department's Bureau of Industry and Security said Megaspeed and several affiliated entities in Singapore and Malaysia had acted contrary to US national security interests. The listing requires American suppliers to obtain a licence before shipping any US-origin technology to the firm. The bureau said such licences would be reviewed under a presumption of denial.

Megaspeed has drawn scrutiny since US media reports last year traced its roots to a Chinese gaming company and detailed its purchases of large volumes of Nvidia hardware. Singapore police opened a separate inquiry in October 2025 into suspected breaches of domestic laws linked to chip shipments routed through the city-state. Nvidia has previously said it complies with export rules and found no evidence of diversion by its customers.

The decision came days after reports that Mr Bessent had confronted Mr Lutnick over the Commerce Department's slow handling of the case. Treasury officials had argued that inaction undermined Washington's credibility on export controls. People at the Commerce Department had reportedly been wary of disrupting the trade truce agreed between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce is expected to condemn the listing as unilateral bullying, as Beijing has done after previous designations. Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry has said it expects companies operating in the city-state to comply with its laws. Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the case would be watched as a test of whether Washington still enforces chip controls during détente with Beijing.