Trump admin took no action after Rubio Nvidia spy memo report

Secretary of State Marco Rubio supervised the drafting of a classified memo that warned senior Trump administration officials about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's close relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, The New York Times reported on Sunday, November 8. Rubio's role had not been reported before. It suggests senior officials knew of the security concerns while Huang kept shaping Trump's technology policies.aa.com.tr+1

The memo was drafted in the spring. It went to national security officials with high-level clearances ahead of Trump's state visit to China in May. The Times also reported that Trump had been briefed about a year earlier on intelligence that the woman was spying for China, but no action followed.en.sedaily.com+1

The intelligence behind the warning

The memo drew on electronic surveillance of Alice Huang, who is not related to the Nvidia chief. She was a senior executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based data center company. Megaspeed bought advanced AI processors while under federal investigation for smuggling chips into China. Intercepted communications showed an intimate relationship with an American whose name was hidden in the reports. When officials asked for the name to be revealed, it turned out to be Jensen Huang. Counterintelligence agencies concluded that China's Ministry of State Security had recruited her.newsmax.com+1

Huang was at first left out of the business delegation for the May trip. Trump then stepped in and arranged for him to join Air Force One at a refueling stop in Alaska. It is unclear whether the first exclusion had anything to do with the intelligence warning.aa.com.tr+1

Huang's admission and Nvidia's probe

On Sunday, Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation. It said it had "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised." In a company message, Huang wrote, "I was unfaithful to my wife… There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry." He said he would cooperate fully with the inquiry. Megaspeed said it has hired outside legal advisers for an internal review. Three House Republican committee leaders have also invited Huang to testify later this month.bbc.co.uk+1

Washington's response

Rubio declined to comment while traveling to a G7 meeting in Paris. Asked whether he regretted not acting on the earlier briefing, Trump said no and called Huang "an honorable guy." Trump also said he would "certainly" take Huang on his trip to the Philippines and China later this month. The White House, the State Department and the CIA declined to comment.bbc.co.uk+2

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun called the spying claims "entirely groundless, speculative, and intended to smear and malign China."bbc.co.uk

The case sits in the middle of a policy fight. Huang has argued strongly against tighter export limits and wants Nvidia to be allowed to sell nearly everything but its newest chips to China. That stance puts him at odds with officials who fear American technology could strengthen Beijing's military and intelligence capabilities.newsmax.com