A strange and dramatic controversy has suddenly erupted around Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, one of the world’s leading technology companies. US intelligence officials are said to suspect that the 63-year-old technologist, after falling in love with a Chinese woman, may have become caught up in a major espionage operation. Since the news broke, the stock market has taken a heavy blow, with Nvidia’s share price falling more than 4 percent in one go.
At the centre of the affair is a Chinese woman named Alice Huang, a former senior executive of a Singapore-based data centre company. US intelligence believes Beijing was trying to use her to obtain confidential information from inside Nvidia. Jensen Huang has already admitted being unfaithful to his wife and apologised publicly. But he and Nvidia have stated plainly that no US national security information or company secrets were compromised because of the relationship.
Nvidia is now the most powerful name in making artificial intelligence (AI) chips. The difficulty is that the United States and China are locked in fierce competition for dominance in AI, and Washington never wants its most advanced technology to reach China. Yet the Nvidia chief has argued from the start for easing the rules on selling the company’s chips in the Chinese market, and the espionage rumours have raised fresh suspicion.
The news has also caused uproar in American political circles. Lawmakers have demanded that Huang appear before Congress to answer questions. US President Donald Trump, however, has defended him, calling him an “honourable man”. China’s foreign ministry dismissed the affair as an entirely fabricated and baseless smear campaign against Beijing.
To establish whether the story is true or rumour, Nvidia has set up an independent investigation committee. Experts say that whatever the truth turns out to be, the affair has made the technology rivalry between the United States and China even more complicated and heated.
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