US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the FBI is looking into Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with a woman US intelligence officials believe was a spy for China. Trump did not say what the inquiry covers or when it began. The FBI declined to comment.
Trump said he spoke to Huang, who told him he had no idea the woman was a spy. "I really believe him" Trump said. He called Huang an "honourable guy" and said he expects him to be "in good shape" after the investigations.
The woman is Alice Huang also known as Huang Le, a former managing director of Singapore-based Megaspeed which has had dealings with Nvidia. She is not related to Jensen Huang. The New York Times reported that US authorities concluded she was a Chinese intelligence asset. It also reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a memo to top officials last spring warning of the relationship, and that Trump was briefed but chose not to act. Trump said he was told "over a period of time" but gave no details.
Nvidia's board has started an internal investigation into whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. Huang told employees he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologised to his family. He said he is committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting US national security. Nvidia said it has no reason to believe its secrets or national security were compromised and that its board has confidence in him.
Nvidia shares fell more than 4% on Monday with wiping about $250 billion off its value. A proposed class action in California accuses Huang and the company of defrauding shareholders by hiding his ties to the suspected spy. Congressional committees have asked Huang to attend a closed-door briefing next week. It is unclear whether he will.
China rejected the claims. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun called them a "groundless accusation, slander, and a smear."
The case matters because Washington treats Nvidia's chip exports to China as a national security issue. In January, the Trump administration allowed sales of its H200 chips to Chinese customers under conditions. The most advanced chips remain blocked. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called for more answers and for passage of a defence bill with limits on chip sales to China. Lawmakers told Reuters Congress may now be more likely to tighten those limits.
Analysts do not expect Huang to step down. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said "Jensen is not an ordinary CEO, he is Nvidia."
