Nvidia launches investigation into CEO after affair with alleged Chinese spy

Nvidia is launching an independent investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was having an affair with a woman who was allegedly spying on him for the Chinese government.

In an email Nvidia published on Sunday, Huang admitted to the affair and apologized to his family and staff.

“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children,” Huang wrote in the email. “There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”

Huang added: “To my colleagues at Nvidia, including those I have worked alongside for decades, and to our board, partners, and shareholders around the world: you deserve better from me. Leading Nvidia is the privilege of my life. My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility. I am fully committed to Nvidia and will work to earn back your confidence.”

Nvidia’s board of directors shared in a separate statement on Sunday that the company is “initiating an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort,” and that a “committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation.”

“While the board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised,  the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information.”

Now, this information first came out last month in a report from The New York Times, which stated that Chinese national Alice Huang (or Huang Le), who is a former leader at Nvidia customer MegaSpeed, was someone with a well-documented relationship with Huang, and may have acted as an intelligence asset for the Chinese government in Beijing. The report also says she was steering advanced Nvidia AI chips to China, as the U.S. worked to deny China the tech needed to match or surpass the U.S. in the AI space.

Nvidia said in its statement that “The Board has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team and will provide further updates as appropriate.”

Source: Nvidia Via: Yahoo Finance