Nvidia to Investigate Reports That Chinese Spies Targeted Its CEO

Nvidia, one of the world's most powerful technology companies, announced Sunday that it will investigate reports that its CEO, Jensen Huang, was targeted by a foreign spy operation. The company's board of directors said U.S. intelligence officials believe a business executive Huang had a close relationship with was secretly gathering information for China's government. Huang, who is 63 years old, will stay on as CEO while the investigation takes place.

The New York Times reported that Huang told Nvidia's board he had been in a romantic relationship with a woman named Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen who worked as a top executive at a Singapore-based tech company called Megaspeed. U.S. intelligence officials determined that she was sending information directly to the Chinese government in Beijing. The two people named Huang are not related to each other.

Nvidia's board said it has 'no reason to believe' that any national security secrets or company secrets were shared or stolen. However, the board said it would carefully look at all the information it can find. Jensen Huang 'fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it,' the board added.

Jensen Huang sent a message of apology to Nvidia employees after the story became public. 'I was unfaithful to my wife,' he wrote. 'My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.' The message was reported by The New York Times.

Alice Huang used to be a television reporter in China before she became a business executive. Her company, Megaspeed, is based in Singapore and has become one of Nvidia's biggest customers in Southeast Asia. Over the past two years, Megaspeed bought more than $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia computer chips.

Nvidia makes special computer chips that are used to build and run artificial intelligence, or AI, systems. These chips are found in many of the large data centers around the world that power AI technology. Because these chips are so advanced, the U.S. government has placed limits on selling them to China, worried that China could use them to gain a military or technological advantage.

President Donald Trump spoke about the situation at a Halloween party on October 31. He called it 'very complex' and said he hoped everything would be okay with Jensen Huang, who serves on the president's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Trump has praised Huang in the past, calling him 'smart' and 'amazing,' and has even asked Huang to join him on trips to other countries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday he could not comment on the situation. He was leaving the United States for a G7 meeting in Paris, France, when reporters asked him about it. 'I just can't comment because of the nature of it,' he said. Nvidia is based in Santa Clara, California, and recently reported quarterly profits of nearly $60 billion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.