President Donald Trump said he spoke to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Monday, and that Huang denied knowing that the woman he admitted having an extramarital affair with “was a spy” for China.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he was “amazed” by the allegations against Huang, which led Nvidia’s board to initiate an independent investigation.
Trump suggested he had only recently learned of allegations that Megaspeed International executive Alice Huang was a Chinese spy.
“I didn’t hear about it then, but a lot of people have heard about it, and Jensen totally denies that,” Trump said.
“I asked him today because I did speak to him today just to see if he’s feeling all right. ‘How you doing?'” Trump said.
“And I asked him about that, and he … said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy,” the president said. “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.’ “
“I really believe him,” Trump said.
The New York Times on Oct. 29 reported that Alice Huang had been eyed by U.S. spy agencies “for possibly steering advanced Nvidia A.I. chips to China,” and that “American officials had concluded she was a Chinese intelligence asset, funneling information to Beijing.”
The Times reported that about a year ago, Trump was briefed about the intelligence findings “and chose not to do anything with the information.” The newspaper noted that Trump has been reluctant to disrupt chip sales by Nvdia, which are boosting the U.S. stock market.
On Friday, The Times reported that a memo that circulated last spring among top Trump administration policymakers “cited intelligence that a Chinese businesswoman who had a close relationship with Nvidia’s chief executive was a spy for China’s Ministry of State Security.”
The Times said the memo reported that Alice Huang was recruited to collect intelligence on the Nvidia CEO “as part of a drive by Beijing’s top spy agency to learn more about American A.I. chips and potentially influence the company to push for its most advanced chips to be made available to China.”
“I’ve been reading a little bit about it over a period of time, but not too long ago,” Trump said Monday. “We’ll look into it. I know the FBI is looking into it in terms of something else, and I think that he’ll be in good shape.”
Trump on Monday said of Jensen Huang, “He’s suffering greatly.”
“I believe he’s suffering greatly. I read his statement, and I believe he’s suffering greatly, more so because of his family, his wife, who he loves, and his family. But he is definitely suffering.”
Asked if he would bring up the issue involving Huang with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders meet next week at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, Trump said, “I don’t think so.”
“I mean, maybe I’m sure President Xi will ask me about it,” Trump said. “I just know Jensen very well. I just think he’s a very honorable, honorable man. I mean … he built a great company, American company, and I think he’s a very honorable guy, and I feel very confident that he’ll be in good shape.”
Trump’s comments came as a Los Angeles law firm filed a class-action shareholder lawsuit against Nvidia and Huang in federal court in San Jose, California.
The Rosen Law Firm’s suit alleges the defendants made false or misleading statements about his affair with Huang and Nvidia’s relationship with Megaspeed, which presented a material risk to the company’s reputation and business prospects.
