U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the affair between NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.
President Trump said he spoke with CEO Hwang on the 9th after reports emerged that U.S. authorities viewed CEO Hwang as a target of Chinese espionage.
“I asked him, ‘Did you have any idea that that woman was a spy?’ He said, ‘I had no idea,’ and I really believe that,” Trump told reporters.
The Chinese government denied allegations of intelligence operations targeting CEO Hwang. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the allegations, saying they were "completely unfounded and speculation aimed at slandering and slandering China."
Nvidia, which commissioned an independent investigation into the alleged affair with Alice Huang, who is suspected of being a Chinese spy, said there was no basis to believe that company secrets were leaked or national security was compromised.
As this suspicion arose, Nvidia's stock price fell about 4% in trading on Monday, and about $250 billion (about 336 trillion won) in market capitalization evaporated.
President Trump later told reporters at the White House that the FBI was investigating the matter. However, the details of the investigation or the timing of its launch were not explained in detail. The FBI declined to respond to the BBC's request for comment.
According to a New York Times report, U.S. intelligence officials believe Alice Huang, also known as "Huang Le," is a spy who worked for the Chinese government.
End of TOP News
The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a memo to senior Washington officials last spring warning that Hwang had close ties to Chinese spies.
Alice Huang served as managing director of Megaspeed, a Singaporean company. Megaspeed is a company that has been doing business with Nvidia, which is at the center of global artificial intelligence (AI) development through semiconductors. Alice Huang and Jensen Huang are not related.
President Trump's remarks indicate for the first time whether CEO Hwang was aware of the woman's alleged involvement in Chinese espionage activities.
NVIDIA, an American company co-founded and led by CEO Hwang, is also a key company in the AI competition between the US and China. U.S. authorities are treating Nvidia's exports to China as a national security issue.
CEO Hwang and Nvidia were also sued Monday in California, seeking class action approval. The party that filed the lawsuit claimed that CEO Hwang deceived shareholders by hiding his relationship with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.
The complaint also included claims that Nvidia lied to the media about the relationship between CEO Hwang and Alice Hwang. The person who filed the lawsuit claimed that Alice Huang "is suspected of attempting to help smuggle Nvidia products into China."
'He said he had no idea the woman was a spy.'
At the White House, President Trump was asked several times by the media, including the BBC, when he learned of the relationship between the two. He responded that he had been briefed "over a period of time," but did not specify the specific timing.
President Trump described CEO Hwang as “a man of good faith” and said, “I am confident that he will get through it well once the investigation is over.”
“I hope there are no problems. I think he is in great pain,” he added.
President Trump explained the reason for calling CEO Hwang on the 9th, saying, "I wanted to ask if he was okay and how he was doing." He said, “When I asked him about it, he said he really had no idea that the person in question was a spy.”
NVIDIA is a company that designs cutting-edge semiconductors that drive AI models, and is at the center of the technology competition between the United States and China. This is why CEO Hwang's affair has become a national security concern.
President Trump has raised concerns that allowing China to lead the AI field could significantly strengthen its military and surveillance capabilities.
He also said that the next time he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping, Xi will "definitely ask" about this issue.
CEO Hwang admitted that he had been "unfaithful" to his wife and apologized for causing hurt to her and their children.
He said Monday that he was "committed to protecting Nvidia and contributing to the national security of the United States" and would cooperate with any investigation launched by the company.
Several U.S. Congressional committees also requested CEO Hwang to appear at a joint closed-door briefing next week.
In the letter, the committee chairs said they would like to hear an explanation "about NVIDIA's security procedures in response to espionage activities by foreign hostile forces and its contacts with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive who has been identified in media reports as an intelligence agent for the People's Republic of China (PRC)."
It has not been confirmed whether CEO Hwang will attend. Nvidia declined to comment, and the BBC also asked the committees for comment.
End of content
Nvidia was founded in 1993 by CEO Hwang with two other engineers, and has a history spanning several decades. However, it is only recently that it has emerged as one of the most valuable and influential companies in the world.
NVIDIA, which initially designed semiconductors for games, has achieved its current status by shifting the center of gravity of its business to AI development.
As NVIDIA semiconductors emerged as a key product in building AI infrastructure, the White House previously placed restrictions on export targets for cutting-edge products.
Exports of Nvidia's second most advanced semiconductor, the H200, were also restricted due to concerns that China's technology industry could be used to gain an advantage over the United States.
However, CEO Hwang has long opposed restrictions on sales to China. This is because it is better for American technology to become the basis for the spread of AI around the world.
In January, the Trump administration announced that it would allow Nvidia to sell H200 semiconductors to Chinese customers under certain conditions.
