President Donald Trump said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang denied knowing a woman he admitted an affair with was an alleged Chinese spy, offering his personal support for his embattled tech ally.
“I did speak to him today,” Trump told reporters at a news conference on Monday. “And he he said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy. … I really believe him.”
Trump said he did not know about the allegations of spying when he invited Huang to accompany him on a trip to China earlier this year. But he declined to say when he first was informed about the intelligence community’s concerns that the woman, Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based tech company and Nvidia customer Megaspeed, worked with one of Beijing’s intelligence agencies.
“Oh, I’d have to check,” Trump said in remarks to journalists in the White House briefing room. “But this has been going on. Well, I’d certainly check with the intelligence people. It could have been mentioned. Certainly, it didn’t make much of an impact on me.”
Trump’s remarks highlighted his close relationship with Jensen Huang, who leads one of the world’s most valuable companies and has frequently appeared at the president’s side since his reelection last year. “I just know Jensen very well,” Trump said. “I just think he’s a very honorable man.”
Huang has championed Trump’s low-regulation approach to the artificial intelligence agency and Nvidia donated $25 million to the president’s White House ballroom project.
The company has been one of the main drivers of a recent AI boom that has seen U.S. stock markets and retirement accounts soar over recent years. Nvidia shares fell more than 4 percent on Monday.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday dismissed reports that the country had dispatched a spy to ensnare Huang. “The ‘Chinese spy’ allegation is purely unsubstantiated and directed at smearing China,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters.
Trump said he didn’t think he would bring up the spying allegations with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet in Shenzhen, China, next week. But he suggested his Chinese counterpart might ask him about it.
Jensen Huang admitted Sunday to an affair with Alice Huang. Nvidia’s board said Sunday it would launch an independent investigation.
Huang founded the firm in the 1990s, rising to become one of the most powerful business leaders on the planet. The company said Sunday that Huang was committed to staying on as its leader.
The New York Times first reported on the links between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang in October, reporting that Trump had been briefed but chose not to take action. Trump and Jensen Huang have been close allies as the administration has sought to speed the development of AI.
Chip policy experts raise broader questions about the competition between the United States and China over the technology. American companies lead the industry, and many in Washington have sought to use export restrictions to keep the most powerful chips out of Chinese hands. But Nvidia has argued for allowing at least some exports, which the administration permitted last year.
U.S. officials have previously suspected Megaspeed of acting as an intermediary that shipped Nvidia chips to China to circumvent export controls, according to news reports. The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Singapore’s government denied an earlier Wall Street Journal report that its officials separately investigated Alice Huang’s ties to China. It is unclear when she first met Jensen Huang.
In China, where Jensen Huang is widely known, news and social media accounts reported that he had been unfaithful to his spouse but largely refrained from mentioning Alice Huang’s alleged ties to China’s Ministry of State Security intelligence agency and didn’t mention any potential national security implications.
“If Huang cheated, he wronged his wife and children — what does this have to do with his employees?” an editorial from the state-owned Jimu News asked. The article concluded: “At a company as large and internationally influential as Nvidia, Huang’s private conduct has never been just a private matter.”
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