FBI investigates Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang over affair with alleged Chinese spy

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that the FBI is investigating Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang following reports of his affair with an alleged Chinese government agent. Mr. Trump stated at a White House briefing that he spoke with Mr. Huang to ask if he knew about the woman's ties, noting that the CEO said he had absolutely no idea she was a spy. Mr. Huang has acknowledged the relationship, issuing an open letter on Nvidia's website to apologize to his wife and company while pledging full cooperation with investigations. U.S. intelligence officials believe the woman, identified in reports as Alice Huang or Huang Le and former managing director of the Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed, was gathering information for Beijing. Nvidia shares dropped more than 4% in Monday trading, knocking about $250 billion off the company's value, and the firm faces a proposed class action lawsuit in California accusing it of concealing the ties.

Reaction

Top U.S. political figures have called for further scrutiny into the matter, with Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Representative Hakeem Jeffries stating they need a full briefing on potential national security implications. Mr. Jeffries mentioned the issue came up during a closed-door session with the CIA director and the Director of National Intelligence. Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly denied the allegations, with spokesperson Guo Jiakun calling the spy claims unsubstantiated smears intended to malign China. Beijing previously dismissed reports that Mr. Huang had a close relationship with Alice Huang, whose firm Megaspeed faced claims last year of illicitly shipping advanced Nvidia chips into China.

Context

Nvidia designs cutting-edge microchips that power the global development of artificial intelligence, making the company a central focus in technology and national security debates between the United States and China. U.S. officials frequently monitor chip exports and foreign intelligence efforts to protect sensitive domestic technologies from being compromised by rival nations.