San Francisco: Nvidia is opening an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort,” the company’s board of directors said Sunday.
The announcement came after Huang acknowledged to the board that he had been intimate with a business executive whom, according to The New York Times, US intelligence determined was gathering information for Beijing.
In a letter to Nvidia employees obtained by The Associated Press, Huang said he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologized to his family and colleagues. He said he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
“Leading Nvidia is the privilege of my life,” Huang wrote. “My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility.”
Nvidia’s board said it has “no reason to believe” that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information. Huang “fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it,” the board said.
Huang, 63, will remain CEO during the investigation.
“Today’s news will not slow Nvidia,” company spokesperson John Rizzo said in a statement. “Jensen is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as CEO without interruption.”
Nvidia has become a central player in the global race to develop artificial intelligence, with its chips powering many of the data centers and computing systems used to train and run AI models. Its advanced processors have also been a focus of US export restrictions aimed at limiting China’s access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology.
The Times reported last month that US intelligence agencies had discovered that Huang had developed a close relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen and chip buyer, and determined that she was feeding information directly to Beijing. The two are not related, according to the Times.
Alice Huang was previously a television reporter in China before becoming a top executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed, which has become one of Nvidia’s biggest customers in Southeast Asia. Megaspeed bought more than USD 4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips over the past two years, according to the Times.
The Nvidia CEO’s letter to employees did not name Alice Huang or address her apparent ties to Beijing. He did, however, refer to the national security concerns raised in news reports and said he supported the board’s investigation and would cooperate fully.
“I love our country and our company,” Jensen Huang said. “I am committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America’s national security.”
President Donald Trump said Sunday he hasn’t spoken to Huang about the latest development and praised him. “I hope everything’s fine then. He’s done such an incredible job,” Trump said, speaking to reporters before returning to the White House.
Asked whether he wished he had acted on intelligence when he was briefed about spying, Trump again praised Huang: “I think he’s an honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. He’s done an amazing job for our country.”
As to whether he’d take the CEO with him on his trip to Asia next week, Trump said he was open to it.
“I don’t know, but I’d certainly take him,” he said of Huang, who serves on the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday as he was departing the US for a G7 meeting in Paris that he could not address the situation with Huang.
“I just can’t comment because of the nature of it,” he told reporters. “And I also can’t comment on an internal corporate matter that’s going on with Nvidia.”
Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, has regularly surpassed Wall Street’s earnings expectations in the past three years since its high-end chips emerged as AI’s best building blocks. The Santa Clara, California-based company reported quarterly profits of USD 59.
