Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns Amid Allegations of Affair with Suspected Chinese Spy

After former Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, a key voice on AI in US President Donald Trump’s inner circle, tendered his resignation, a Wall Street Journal report states that Secretary of State Marco Rubio rewrote an intelligence report prepared by the CIA about the tech billionaire’s relationship with a suspected Chinese spy and used “more assertive terms”. This potentially led to the downfall of the Nvidia founder and CEO, who had earlier secured access to sell chips to China. The WSJ report, citing a person familiar with the matter, stated that Rubio, who also serves as the National Security Advisor to Trump, utilised the CIA report on Huang’s relationship to write his own, and the memo eventually led to the downfall of the Nvidia chief. It added that a few national security officials within the Trump administration were reportedly irritated with Huang’s influence over the president, two former officials claimed. When the observations in Rubio’s memo, which took swipes at one of Trump’s closest allies, leaked to the media, the event triggered a trickle-down effect that led to Jensen Huang’s resignation on Thursday. The former Nvidia CEO admitted to having been “unfaithful” to his wife, Lori Huang, and apologised to his family and employees. It is suspected that Jensen had an affair with Alice Huang, a former top executive at a Singapore-based data firm, Megaspeed, who the US intelligence agencies believe is a Chinese ‘spy’. “I owe my family and all of you an apology. 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. Throughout my life, my family has loved and supported me. They deserve my honesty and loyalty. Instead, I let them down and damaged the life we built together. I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it,” Jensen wrote. After Huang announced his resignation, Trump called him a “legend” who had “done a fantastic job.” The US President also suggested that Tim Cook, who retired as Apple chief earlier this year, should take over from Huang. Rubio, who was recently on a visit to Paris for a Group of Seven summit, was asked several times regarding the controversy surrounding Jensen Huang and Nvidia, but he declined to comment. The Secretary of State, when asked by reporters if the allegations of Chinese spying would change his opinion while negotiating with Beijing over AI, Rubio said: “The Chinese system is always going to act in the best interest of the Chinese system, and the United States will always act in the best interest of the United States. I work for the American people.”