On Sunday, Jensen Huang, the cofounder and chief executive of Nvidia, admitted to his company’s board that he had been intimate with a business executive who U.S. intelligence officials had determined was working for Chinese intelligence.1
The man running the most important chip company in the artificial intelligence race, a man who flew to Beijing on Air Force One and sat at the head table with Xi Jinping at the White House, carried on a secret relationship with a woman American spy agencies concluded was feeding information straight to Beijing. Getting to the bottom of all of this (no pun intended), Huang seems to be the victim of a honey pot espionage operation.2
I came across this extremely serious and disturbing story Sunday night through the reporting of Tripp Mickle, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Julian E. Barnes and Ana Swanson of The New York Times, and they deserve full credit for dragging it into the daylight. I’m using this post as my own opportunity to take this conversation down a slightly different path that focuses on AI safety, national security and Trump’s complete indifference to putting America’s best national security interest over what will probably turn out to be relationships and business deals designed to make him more money.
To get started, I want to quickly walk you through the facts first. After that, I want to talk about your safety, because the AI industry convinced Donald Trump that it would do just fine monitoring itself on security and safety, and this scandal shows you exactly what that promise is worth.
What Jensen Huang Told His Company
The relationship became a U.S. government concern after surveillance revealed that the woman was feeding information directly to Beijing. That alarmed officials for an obvious reason. Jensen Huang is one of the most important figures in the AI revolution and an influential ally of Trump.
In a message to the company, Huang apologized. “I was unfaithful to my wife,” he said. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
Now let me be clear. This post isn’t about someone having an affair. There are too many other important things to talk about than infidelity. No, it’s about Huang being compromised by a Chinese spy and placing America’s national security at risk. It’s also about Trump not giving a damn.
Think I’m exaggerating? Keep reading.
First let’s start with Nvidia’s board of directors. It said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised,” and it promised that “the board’s inquiry will examine all available information.”
Let me jump in right here.
How many people in your business or company have been sleeping with Chinese spies? It’s not normal. Everyone, and I mean everyone should be concerned.
But no biggie. The board added that Huang “fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it,” and it said it has confidence in him and his leadership team. A committee of independent board members will run the investigation. What the board says it does not know, it now plans to find out.
Here is the part that should make you sit up. Despite all of this Jensen Huang will keep running Nvidia during the investigation. A company representative told reporters, “Jensen is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as C.E.O. without interruption.”
So let’s summarize. The man who was compromised by a Chinese spy and who is under investigation, stays in charge of the company whose board is investigating him. In a courtroom, we would call that a conflict of interest, and any judge in America would spot it from the back row of the gallery.