Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang investigation into relationship with alleged Chinese spy, Digi Mart USA News: Chipmaker Nvidia has begun an independent investigation into the intimate relationship of CEO Jensen Huang with a woman whom U.S. intelligence services say was recruited by the Chinese secret service for espionage.
The company announced this in a press release following reporting by The New York Times and the British newspaper Financial Times (FT).
According to the reports, the woman, Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is an executive at Megaspeed, a Singaporean customer of Nvidia. The papers reported that she tried to obtain chip secrets from the Nvidia CEO on behalf of Chinese intelligence services.
She had reportedly been under the scrutiny of U.S. intelligence agencies for about a year.
Nvidia’s board said in its statement that there is no reason to believe the company’s national security or secrets have been compromised. A memo shared with a small group of U.S.
officials stated that Alice Huang may have been a Chinese spy. This occurred shortly before President Trump traveled to Beijing in May to meet Chinese leader Xi.
Megaspeed is one of Nvidia’s largest customers in Southeast Asia. According to The New York Times, the company purchased more than $4.8 billion in chips over the past two years.
Last year, the United States accused Megaspeed of smuggling advanced Nvidia chips to China. A U.S.
Commerce Department employee found boxes of Nvidia equipment at a Megaspeed data center in Malaysia; the sealed packaging suggested the items were being shipped to China rather than used there, in violation of U.S. export rules.
Nvidia said there was no evidence of irregularities, and the U.S. Department of Justice is still investigating the matter.
Jensen Huang also reportedly tried this year to persuade Trump to allow advanced chip exports to China, which the U.S. opposes because it could accelerate China’s military modernization and AI model development.
The United States has imposed export restrictions to prevent this.
Earlier, Nvidia had said there was nothing unusual about the relationship, noting that its CEO meets thousands of customers each year. Images of the two together, including drinking whisky and dining in the Taiwanese capital Taipei, have circulated on social media.
In a message to the board, the chipmaker’s CEO acknowledged that he cheated on his wife and said he takes full responsibility. A spokesperson said Huang remains in charge of the company and will cooperate with the investigation.
“I remain fully committed to Nvidia and will work to earn back your trust,” the CEO said.
With a market value of nearly $5 trillion, Nvidia is one of the most valuable companies in the world. Its chips are essential to developments in artificial intelligence.
