Why is Nvidia’s Jensen Huang at the centre of a US-China row?

Explainer Why is Nvidia’s Jensen Huang at the centre of a US-China row? Donald Trump praised the chipmaker’s CEO despite reports he had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy

Nvidia has launched an investigation into allegations that its chief executive, Jensen Huang, has been the target of a Chinese espionage operation .

Huang has admitted to having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy who was reportedly central to the “foreign intelligence effort”.

Here are some of the key questions around the story, and its implications for US-China relations.

Nvidia, the maker of the computer chips crucial to developing and operating AI systems such as ChatGPT, and its CEO are reportedly the target of a Chinese espionage sting.

Nvidia has been selling its much sought-after chips to a little-known Singapore-based datacentre company, Megaspeed. US officials had been concerned that Megaspeed might have been helping Chinese firms bypass restrictions on chip exports to China, by diverting semiconductors to the US’s chief AI rival.

Those concerns about Megaspeed were first reported last year but the story became explosive when the New York Times reported last month that a Megaspeed executive, Huang Le – a Chinese citizen also known as Alice Huang – had developed a “close relationship” with the Nvidia boss. There were worries in US intelligence that Ms Huang, no relation to the Nvidia boss, was in fact a Chinese intelligence asset funnelling information to Beijing.

At the time Nvidia said its CEO’s interactions with the Megaspeed boss were “not unusual or unexpected” and the Singapore company had received “zero information relevant to national security.”

Then Huang admitted on Sunday that he had been unfaithful to his wife.

In a message to company employees released on Sunday, Nvidia’s co-founder said: “I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”

It is unclear how long the pair have known each other, but they were photographed together drinking whisky in a bar in Taipei after a technology trade show in June 2024.

Nvidia said it is “initiating an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort”.

The statement added: “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.”