Photograph: Nadja Wohlleben/Getty Photographs
Whereas all of us wait round questioning which British hunk goes to be the following James Bond, would possibly I curiosity you in some real-life espionage drama? On Sunday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged that he had an affair with a lady suspected of being a Chinese language spy. The corporate’s board of administrators introduced on Sunday that it was initiating an investigation following reporting that Huang had been “the goal of a overseas intelligence effort.”
Nvidia’s primary merchandise are artificial-intelligence chips, expertise that powers almost all machine studying within the U.S. The corporate is presently valued at over $4 trillion and is without doubt one of the main tech firms presently bolstering the U.S. financial system. The export of Nvidia chips has been intensely restricted since 2022, when the U.S. started to push for dominance within the AI race. However final month, the New York Occasions reported that the U.S. suspected that Alice Huang (no relation to Jensen), an government at a Singapore-based data-center firm known as Megaspeed, had given intelligence to China and presumably despatched Nvidia AI chips to the nation. Every week later, the paper reported that Alice had been recruited as a spy by China’s Ministry of State Safety as a way to get near Jensen and study extra about Nvidia’s top-of-the-line AI chips. It’s unclear when precisely Alice was purportedly recruited, however based on the Occasions, a part of her mission was to affect Nvidia to advocate for its chips to be made out there in China.
The timeline of Jensen and Alice’s relationship can be murky. The pair have been photographed sitting subsequent to one another at a tech-industry get together in Taipei in June 2024, across the identical time her firm started buying what would wind up being billions of {dollars}’ value of Nvidia chips. In Might 2025, they have been filmed eating along with different execs at a restaurant in Taipei, and the Occasions reported that she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Earlier than Nvidia introduced its investigation, firm spokesperson John Rizzo instructed the Occasions that interactions between his CEO and Alice Huang have been “common or surprising” and that she was merely one of many “1000’s of buyer executives” he speaks with yearly.
On Sunday, although, the corporate appeared to vary its tune. In a press launch asserting an impartial investigation into Jensen allegedly being focused by a spy, the Nvidia board mentioned it has “no purpose to consider that both nationwide safety or NVIDIA secrets and techniques have been compromised.”
In his personal letter to the board, Jensen acknowledged having an extramarital affair. “I used to be untrue to my spouse. My actions damage her and our kids. There is no such thing as a excuse for what I did. I’m deeply sorry,” he wrote. Huang mentioned that he takes “full duty” for what he’s completed and that he hopes he can “earn again” his household’s belief. He has been married to his spouse, Lori, since 1985, and so they have two grown kids.
Huang additionally acknowledged the “nationwide safety considerations” in latest stories and promised that he’s a very good old school patriot. “I really like our nation and our firm,” he mentioned. “I’m dedicated to defending NVIDIA and supporting America’s nationwide safety. I’m proud and grateful to be an American.”
Final 12 months, President Donald Trump — who has an in depth relationship with Jensen Huang — was reportedly briefed that Alice Huang was relaying details about Nvidia to Beijing however did nothing about it. This previous spring, per the Occasions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw the drafting of a memo that warned Trump officers that Jensen was in an in depth relationship with Alice Huang. The memo arrived forward of the president’s journey to China in Might, the place Jensen finally joined him, although the Occasions reported that he was not initially on the invite record. It’s unclear whether or not or not his exclusion was associated to the memo.
Trump, in fact, continues to be using for his pal. Talking to reporters on Sunday night time, the president mentioned that the Nvidia CEO is an “honorable man.” “I simply know he’s a tremendous individual, however you by no means know what’s going on,” Trump mentioned. The president added that Huang “most likely had an excuse” and that he’s “completed a tremendous job for our nation.”
Jensen Huang will proceed to helm Nvidia whereas being investigated for his relationship with an alleged Chinese language spy. “In the present day’s information is not going to sluggish Nvidia,” Rizzo, the spokesperson, mentioned. “Jensen is dedicated to persevering with to guide Nvidia as CEO with out interruption.” Wonderful stuff. It seems that if you’re highly effective sufficient, inflicting a world intelligence disaster isn’t even sufficient to get you fired.
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