Nvidia probes CEO over Chinese spy link allegations

Chip giant Nvidia’s board announced Sunday it had opened a probe into chief executive and co-founder Jensen Huang after he acknowledged an affair with a woman US officials say was working for Chinese intelligence, a claim Beijing denied.

Late last month, The New York Times reported that US intelligence officials concluded that Alice Huang, a Chinese executive linked to a Singapore-based data centre company called Megaspeed, had been funnelling information to Beijing.

The executive, also known as Huang Le, and no relation to 63-year-old Taiwanese-born Jensen, developed a close relationship with the Nvidia boss, the Times said.

In a message to company employees released Sunday, the Nvidia chief acknowledged having an affair and apologised to his family and company staff.

“I was unfaithful to my wife,” he said. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”

Huang is a huge figure in the artificial intelligence revolution and a close informal adviser to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly spoken out against regulating the industry so as not to let China gain the upper hand in the AI race.

The Times said Alice’s relationship with the Nvidia chief could have given her insights into Trump’s thinking around AI.

China rejected the spying allegations, with foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun telling a regular briefing on Monday that “the narrative of a so-called Chinese spy is entirely baseless vilification and smearing.”

The issue of AI is likely to arise during Trump’s planned talks with President Xi Jinping later this month at a summit in China.

– ‘You never know’ –

Asked on Sunday whether the Nvidia chief would be joining the president’s trip to Asia, which includes the Asia-Pacific summit in China’s Shenzhen, Trump told reporters, “I don’t know, but I’ll certainly take him.”

Trump said Huang was “a fine person, but you never know what’s going on. I’m sure — I hope everything’s fine. He’s done such an incredible job.”

Nvidia said in a statement it had opened an independent probe “in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.”

The statement added, “While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information.”

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China is in a race for tech dominance with the United States, which restricts the export to China of the most cutting-edge silicon chips.

Nvidia, a global leader in producing chips used to train and run AI models, is one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Megaspeed was under scrutiny for possibly steering Nvidia AI chips to China, the Times report said, citing unnamed sources briefed on the matter.

Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings about Huang’s relationship with the businesswoman roughly a year ago and chose not to act on the information, the Times report said.

Trump said Sunday he did not regret not acting on this intelligence. “No, I don’t think so. I think — you know, he’s an honourable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to hear it.”

– ‘Black eye moment’ –

Technology analyst Dan Ives, with the investment bank Yorkville Ives, said word of the probe is “a black eye moment” for  Huang.

Ives predicted it will at the very least spark multiple congressional inquiries and “create an overhang on the stock for a myriad of reasons.”

In the near term, Huang is expected to keep his job but risks being removed as Nvidia’s CEO depending on the board’s probe, Ives said in a statement.

“This will also increase major scrutiny regarding selling chips to China, which remains a key battleground issue in DC,” he said.

A partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, George Chen, told AFP that “it would be premature to conclude that Jensen poses a threat to US national security before the facts are fully established.”

“Once you become famous, you will naturally become a target.

“The key questions are whether he was aware of any espionage activities and whether any confidential or strategically sensitive information was compromised,” Chen said.