Trump says FBI looking into Nvidia CEO Huang’s affair

President Donald Trump said Monday that the FBI is looking into Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair with a woman U.S. officials believe was a Chinese spy. He added that Huang told him by phone he had no idea who she really was. "I asked him that question 'Did you have any idea that she was a spy?' He said 'I had no idea that she was a spy' and I really believe him," Trump said at a White House briefing, according to Reuters.reuters.com

Trump's comments came one day after Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation. Together they put both government and corporate scrutiny on the head of the world's second-largest public company.

Trump Backs Huang

Trump said he called Huang "to see if he's feeling all right" and that he was "amazed" by the allegations, NBC News reported. "I view him as a very high quality person," Trump said, adding, "I hope there's no problem." He called Huang a "very honorable man" and said, "I know the FBI is looking into it in terms of something else, and I think that he'll be in good shape," the AP reported. It was the second day in a row that Trump said he wanted Huang to stay in charge of the company, according to NBC News. Nvidia has said Huang will remain CEO.apnews.com+1

Reuters described Huang as one of Trump's closest allies in Silicon Valley. He has become a regular presence in Washington as Nvidia has pushed to sell advanced chips to China, Reuters reported. Nvidia shares fell to a seven-month low on Monday.reuters.com

Board Probe and Admission

On Sunday, Nvidia's board said 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 the same announcement, Huang admitted he had been "unfaithful to my wife" and apologized to employees, NBC News reported. "I support the investigation and will cooperate fully," Huang wrote in an open letter on the company's website, according to the AP.nbcnews.com+1

The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence had concluded the woman, Alice Huang, was gathering information for Beijing. She is a former executive of Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based data center company. Last year Megaspeed faced claims that it was illegally shipping advanced Nvidia chips into China, the AP reported.apnews.com

Beijing Denies Involvement

China rejected the allegations on Monday. "The so-called Chinese spy allegation is unsubstantiated. It is nothing but smears against China," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, according to the AP.apnews.com

George Chen of The Asia Group, a consultancy in Washington, said the main open questions are "whether he was aware of any espionage activities and whether any confidential or strategically sensitive information was compromised." He added, "Those questions require evidence rather than speculation," the AP reported.apnews.com