US chip giant Nvidia announced it has launched an independent internal investigation following media reports that its CEO, Jensen Huang, was the target of Chinese espionage, coinciding with his admission of an extramarital affair.
The company's board of directors confirmed in a statement that the decision followed "recent media reports indicating that our founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, was the target of foreign intelligence operations," without specifying the country involved.
The statement added that the board "has confidence in Jensen and his team," and that the CEO "supports this review and has pledged to cooperate fully with it." He added that U.S. national and economic security are a priority for the company, noting that a committee of independent board members, assisted by independent outside legal counsel, will oversee the investigation, even though the board sees no reason to believe that the company’s national security or secrets have been compromised.
In late November, The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials concluded that a Chinese executive with ties to Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company, was working for Chinese intelligence and passing information to Beijing.
In a letter to the company’s employees, board, partners, and shareholders worldwide, published Sunday, Huang admitted to having an affair and apologized to his family and employees.
“I have been unfaithful to my wife. My actions have hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I have done. I am deeply sorry,” he said, while also expressing his “full commitment” to the company.
For his part, a spokesperson for the group told AFP that "recent events will not deter Nvidia," adding that "Jensen is determined to continue his duties as CEO of the company."
In contrast, Dan Ives, an analyst and director at Yorkville Ives, believes Huang is currently in a very precarious position, noting that the issue will trigger "at the very least, a series of congressional investigations."
He added that Nvidia will suffer significant losses, indicating a "significant risk" that Huang could lose his position in the long run.
When asked about the report on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he could not comment, stating that it was "an internal company matter."
While China described the reports as mere "baseless speculation," US President Donald Trump expressed his support for Huang, whom he called a "genius."
Huang was among the business delegation that accompanied the US president during his visit to Beijing to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, last May.
For its part, the Financial Times reported earlier this week that Nvidia has instructed its data center partners to restrict their dealings with Chinese customers.
The newspaper quoted five sources familiar with the matter as saying that Nvidia's cloud computing clients must now sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies.
NVIDIA
0 Comments