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U.S. technology giant Nvidia will launch an independent investigation into the company's CEO Jensen Huang's extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese spy.
Nvidia is one of the most valuable companies in the world. The company said the board had no reason to believe Nvidia's trade secrets or U.S. national security had been compromised, adding that Huang was committed to continuing to lead the company.
On the other hand, Huang admitted that he was "unfaithful" to his wife and apologized for hurting his wife and children.
The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials believe Alice Huang, a Chinese businessman with close ties to Huang, is a spy for Beijing.
Huang Renxun said that he would "take full responsibility" for everything he did and admitted that his actions had failed Nvidia's employees, board of directors and shareholders.
NVIDIA is one of the world's largest companies and plays a central role in manufacturing the hardware required for emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Jen-Hsun Huang has been at the helm of the company for more than 30 years.
"I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry," he said in the statement.
He continued: "Regarding the national security concerns mentioned in the news reports, NVIDIA's board of directors has launched an independent investigation. I support this investigation and will fully cooperate."
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"I love our country and I love our company. I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting U.S. national security. I am proud to be an American and grateful."
Nvidia's board of directors issued a separate statement saying that in light of recent reports that "the company's founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been targeted by foreign intelligence agencies," the board of directors will launch an investigation.
The statement continued: "The board of directors puts the national security and economic security of the United States first, which is critical to the interests of Nvidia and its shareholders."
"While the Board currently has no reason to believe that classified U.S. national security or NVIDIA information has been compromised, the Board's investigation will review all available information."
U.S. President Trump said he has not spoken with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang since news of the investigation became public.
"I just know he's a great guy, but you never know what's actually going on," Trump told reporters, adding that Huang "has made incredible contributions to our country."
Jen-Hsun Huang has repeatedly turned Nvidia around when it was almost on the verge of bankruptcy, and he decided to bet on artificial intelligence long before the rest of the world was optimistic about it.
At that time, he decided to develop NVIDIA chips, originally designed for gaming, into the industry's most suitable products for AI development. Now the move has paid off hugely, with the company worth trillions of dollars.
This incident was a major blow to Huang Renxun. He is known as a workaholic and perfectionist and has extremely high requirements for employees' work performance.
Huang Le, who is not related to Huang, is reportedly associated with Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed.
The company told the New York Times last month that current management takes the allegations seriously and has appointed outside legal counsel to conduct an internal investigation.
NVIDIA is a core company in the field of AI infrastructure, supplying chips to many leading AI model developers, including OpenAI and Meta.
The chipmaker has a market capitalization of approximately $4.5 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in history.
China has previously denied the relevant authorities’ accusations of espionage against Nvidia’s CEO, describing the claims as “pure slander and slander against China.”
The New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources, that U.S. intelligence agencies had been monitoring Huang Le and concluded that she was acting on behalf of the Chinese government.
The surveillance operation reportedly uncovered communications between Huang Le and an American citizen. U.S. authorities later confirmed that the U.S. citizen was Huang through a process called "unmasking."
It remains unclear what information Huang Le allegedly passed to Beijing, how valuable it was, or when she allegedly began gathering intelligence.
Huang Le did not respond to a request for comment from The New York Times.
Last week, several U.S. congressmen sent a letter to Huang Jen-Hsun, requesting him to attend a congressional hearing on the relationship mentioned in the relevant reports.
Three Republican House committee chairmen have asked Jen-Hsun Huang to attend a hearing later this month amid reports that he and Huang Le have a close relationship to discuss Nvidia's "security measures to prevent espionage by hostile foreign forces."
"Recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding the PRC's (People's Republic of China) access to sensitive U.S. technology and information," the letter stated.
"During this Congress, the issue of China's penetration of the United States and its acquisition of cutting-edge technology has been a core issue in the investigative work of our three committees."
Nvidia's AI chips have always been one of the focuses of competition between the United States and China. Washington has previously imposed export controls that limited where its advanced products could be sold.
Among them, because of concerns about giving China's technology industry an advantage over the United States, the U.S. government restricted the export of Nvidia's second-most advanced semiconductor product, the H200.
In January this year, the Trump administration stated that it would conditionally approve Nvidia’s sale of H200 chips to Chinese customers.
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