Chip giant Nvidia\u2019s board announced Sunday it had opened a probe into chief executive and co-founder Jensen Huang after he acknowledged an affair with a woman US officials say was working for Chinese intelligence, a claim Beijing denied.\n<\/p>\n
Late last month, The New York Times reported that US intelligence officials concluded that Alice Huang, a Chinese executive linked to a Singapore-based data centre company called Megaspeed, had been funnelling information to Beijing.\n<\/p>\n
The executive, also known as Huang Le, and no relation to 63-year-old Taiwanese-born Jensen, developed a close relationship with the Nvidia boss, the Times said.\n<\/p>\n
In a message to company employees released Sunday, the Nvidia chief acknowledged having an affair and apologised to his family and company staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was unfaithful to my wife,\u201d he said. \u201cMy actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Huang is a huge figure in the artificial intelligence revolution and a close informal adviser to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly spoken out against regulating the industry so as not to let China gain the upper hand in the AI race.\n<\/p>\n
The Times said Alice\u2019s relationship with the Nvidia chief could have given her insights into Trump\u2019s thinking around AI.<\/p>\n
China rejected the spying allegations, with foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun telling a regular briefing on Monday that \u201cthe narrative of a so-called Chinese spy is entirely baseless vilification and smearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The issue of AI is likely to arise during Trump\u2019s planned talks with President Xi Jinping later this month at a summit in China.\n<\/p>\n
Asked on Sunday whether the Nvidia chief would be joining the president\u2019s trip to Asia, which includes the Asia-Pacific summit in China\u2019s Shenzhen, Trump told reporters, \u201cI don\u2019t know, but I\u2019ll certainly take him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Trump said Huang was \u201ca fine person, but you never know what\u2019s going on. I\u2019m sure \u2014 I hope everything\u2019s fine. He\u2019s done such an incredible job.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Nvidia said in a statement it had opened an independent probe \u201cin light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The statement added, \u201cWhile the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board\u2019s inquiry will examine all available information.\u201d <\/p>\n
China is in a race for tech dominance with the United States, which restricts the export to China of the most cutting-edge silicon chips.<\/p>\n
Nvidia, a global leader in producing chips used to train and run AI models, is one of the world\u2019s most valuable companies.\n<\/p>\n
Megaspeed was under scrutiny for possibly steering Nvidia AI chips to China, the Times report said, citing unnamed sources briefed on the matter.\n<\/p>\n
Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings about Huang\u2019s relationship with the businesswoman roughly a year ago and chose not to act on the information, the Times report said.\n<\/p>\n
Trump said Sunday he did not regret not acting on this intelligence. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so. I think \u2014 you know, he\u2019s an honourable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to hear it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Technology analyst Dan Ives, with the investment bank Yorkville Ives, said word of the probe is \u201ca black eye moment\u201d for\u00a0 Huang.\n<\/p>\n
Ives predicted it will at the very least spark multiple congressional inquiries and \u201ccreate an overhang on the stock for a myriad of reasons.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
In the near term, Huang is expected to keep his job but risks being removed as Nvidia\u2019s CEO depending on the board\u2019s probe, Ives said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will also increase major scrutiny regarding selling chips to China, which remains a key battleground issue in DC,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
A partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, George Chen, told AFP that \u201cit would be premature to conclude that Jensen poses a threat to US national security before the facts are fully established.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you become famous, you will naturally become a target.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key questions are whether he was aware of any espionage activities and whether any confidential or strategically sensitive information was compromised,\u201d Chen said.\n<\/p>\n
AFP\n <\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
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