“There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
Nvidia’s board of directors has launched an investigation into its own CEO Jensen Huang, after a report by the New York Times claimed he had been participating in an affair with an alleged Chinese spy.
Huang admitted to having an affair in a company-wide statement, apologising to his wife as well as to Nvidia employees. Following this acknowledgement, independent investigators are looking into whether or not he’s been the target of a “foreign intelligence effort”.
Per the New York Times article, the alleged spy was named as Megaspeed executive and Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang or Huang Le. Jensen Huang wrote in his internal letter: “I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
With regard to security concerns surrounding the CEO of US-based company Nvidia potentially sharing information with a spy, Huang confirmed that the Nvidia board of directors had initiated an investigation. He added: “I support the investigation and will cooperate fully.” The Nvidia board has said it has “no reason to believe either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.”
Huang will remain CEO of Nvidia while the investigation is conducted. The New York Times report also claimed that US government officials did not believe Huang knew of Alice Huang’s alleged intelligence activities for China.
Following the internal letter from Jensen Huang, Nvidia stock took a tumble from $162bn to $150bn. Nvidia, a juggernaut in the video game hardware industry, is also a key player in the global generative AI industry, which is currently carrying the US economy as other sectors struggle. The company is responsible for AI technology like DLSS 5, which generates lighting, shadows and more using generative AI.
Concerns around the Chinese AI sector passing the American industry has been a core argument against AI development slowdown or regulation, and it’s also why Huang’s affair may be a matter of national interest.
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