US tech giant Nvidia is opening a probe into its CEO, Jensen Huang, after reports that Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort,” the company's board of directors announced on Sunday.
A report by The New York Times said that the CEO had admitted to the board that he had been "unfaithful" with a business executive who, according to US intelligence, was gathering information for China.
Nvidia is one of the global leaders in the development of artificial intelligence. Its chips power many of the data centres and computing systems used to train and run AI models. Its advanced chips have also been targeted by US export restrictions to prevent China from getting the latest semiconductor technology.
In a letter addressed to Nvidia employees, Huang said that he took "full responsibility" for his actions, while admitting to being unfaithful to his wife and apologising to his family and colleagues. However, he did not mention the name of the person involved or her reported ties to Beijing.
“Leading Nvidia is the privilege of my life,” the 63-year-old wrote. “My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility.”
China has consistantly 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."
Related'No reason to believe' that national security has been compromised
The board leading the company, which is one of the most valuable in the world, says it has "no reason to believe" that either national security or Nvidia's secrets were compromised, but that a thorough independent investigation would be carried out. The board added that Huang "fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it."
In his letter to employees, Jensen Huang said, “I love our country and our company. I am committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America’s national security.”
George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, 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," Chen said.
"The key questions are whether he was aware of any espionage activities and whether any confidential or strategically sensitive information was compromised."
Last month, The New York Times reported that US intelligence agencies had discovered that Huang had developed close ties with Chinese citizen and chip buyer Alice Huang, and that she was directly sharing information with Beijing.
Alice Huang is a top executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that runs data centres across Southeast Asia and has become Nvidia’s largest customer in the region.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump was asked on Sunday whether he should have acted on the spying information sooner. However, Trump praised Huang, saying, “I think he’s an honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. He’s done an amazing job for our country.”
Trump is heading to the Asia-Pacific summit in China's Shenzhen next week and told reporters Huang is invited, saying: "I don't know but I'll certainly take him."
