President Donald Trump spoke with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Monday following revelations that the chipmaker’s leader had an extramarital affair with an executive suspected of acting as a foreign intelligence agent for Beijing.
Trump reached out to Huang to see if he’s feeling all right, telling reporters at an impromptu White House briefing that the executive claimed complete ignorance of the situation. He had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy,
Trump said, adding, I really believe him.
President Trump responds to the report that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy, and he's not rushing to judgment. ⠀ "I think he's an honorable guy," Trump tells reporters, saying he hasn't spoken to Huang about the matter and wants to hear his… pic.twitter.com/p3xV41ydpv
President Donald Trump defended Nvidia’s leader and noted that the CEO had worked to curry favor with him and lobbied the US government.
The controversy centers on Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International who is not related to the Nvidia chief. U.S. intelligence officials suspect she was recruited by China to gather information and push for advanced chip access, according to Business Insider. Megaspeed has faced allegations of illicitly shipping restricted artificial intelligence processors to Chinese customers.
I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to hear it.
President Donald Trump, via Business Insider
Nvidia shares dropped 4.2% in Monday trading, marking the worst performance on the Dow and Nasdaq. Wall Street’s reaction came immediately after the disclosures, wiping more than $300bn off Nvidia’s market valuation when trading opened.
The Justice Department is leading a criminal inquiry into Megaspeed, which follows an investigation initially handled by the Commerce Department. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s board announced it was initiating an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.
In a message to employees, Huang admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologized to the company’s workforce. Despite the dual investigations and the market slide, Trump indicated he wants Huang to maintain his leadership role at the tech giant. When Donald Trump was briefed about the Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang’s liaisons with Alice Huang, he took no action.
Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks issued a joint statement arguing that the situation demands decisive congressional oversight of AI-linked corporations.
US President Donald Trump says he thinks Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is an “honorable guy” and hopes “everything’s fine,” after Huang acknowledged an affair with a woman US officials say was working for Chinese intelligence. pic.twitter.com/UNZ4sZZvQO
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated that the so-called Chinese spy allegation is unsubstantiated.
