US chipmaker Nvidia investigates CEO Jensen Huang over affair

United States-based chipmaker Nvidia is investigating its chief executive officer, billionaire Jensen Huang, after he confirmed he had an intimate relationship with a woman accused of working for Chinese intelligence. In an announcement on Sunday, Nvidia said the probe would be conducted by a “committee of independent directors” with outside counsel. “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,” Nvidia’s board of directors said. It said the board continued to have “confidence in Jensen and his leadership team”. Huang will continue to lead Nvidia during the probe. The investigation follows a report in The New York Times last month that Jensen may have been the target of a Chinese espionage plot. China and the US have been in competition to dominate key tech sectors like artificial intelligence (AI). The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, has denied any allegations of spying in the case. Jensen Huang’s ties to Alice Huang, who is of no relation, spurred fierce bipartisan backlash in the US Congress in the aftermath of the report. “For months, bipartisan members of Congress have raised concerns about NVIDIA’s advanced AI chips going to China,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in a statement. “NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and NVIDIA’s board owe Congress answers. And we need to pass bipartisan legislation we have ready to stop advanced American technology from going to China.” Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives also called on Huang to appear and testify before Congress about the affair on November 18. “It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk,” Republicans John Moolenaar, Brian Mast and Rick Crawford said in a statement. He dealt with somebody, but so does everybody else.” He added that Huang was a “fine person” and has done an “amazing job for our country”. “I think he’s an honourable guy.