Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to having an affair with a woman whom U.S. intelligence reportedly suspects is a Chinese spy.
Huang, who heads a leading AI chipmaker and is an ally of President Donald Trump, apologized in a message to the company, saying, “I was unfaithful to my wife,” according to The New York Times.
“My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
Nvidia announced in a press release Sunday that its board was opening an independent investigation “in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.”
Late last month, the Times reported that Huang had formed a close relationship with Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese executive at a Singapore-based data center.
Alice Huang is considered by U.S. officials to be a Chinese spy, feeding information to Beijing, according to the report, which cited sources briefed on the surveillance of Alice Huang and other officials and industry experts.
“The Board prioritizes U.S. national and economic security, which is paramount to the interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders,” Sunday’s company press release read.
“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.”
CEO Huang supports the investigation and has agreed to cooperate with it, the board said.
There was no word of Huang’s position being in jeopardy, with the board saying it “has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team.”
Nvidia is one of the hottest companies in the stock market right now, given the popularity of its chips. It has a market capitalization of roughly 4.5 trillion and was trading at nearly $240 per share early last month.
Huang, like other tech leaders, has flocked to Trump as the president embraces AI. The Nvidia leader and his wife, Lori Huang, attended a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House in September. His attendance wasn’t unusual, given that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were also there.
Trump is a major backer of AI, trying to rebrand the technology as SI for “Super Intelligence” and loosen regulations.
While Huang may be an ally to the president, it will be hard to overlook a potential security breach from not only a U.S. adversary, but also its top competitor in the AI race.
“We’re leading China in AI,” the president said in September amid concerns that AI could pose an existential threat to humans. “We’re the most sophisticated country in the world. And frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins.”
This is a developing story...
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