China rejects espionage claims involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

SEOUL, South Korea -- A Chinese government spokesperson on Monday rejected claims that a woman romantically involved with Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, was a Chinese spy. The spokesperson dismissed the reports as "pure fabrication out of thin air" and "nothing but a smear against China." The response by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs underscored how the revelations involving one of the world's most prominent technology executives have spilled into the intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing. On Sunday, Huang acknowledged having a relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese business executive whom U.S. officials suspected of providing information to Chinese intelligence. Nvidia said it was opening an investigation into Jensen Huang's conduct. The company's board said it had no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised. While U.S. officials have raised national security concerns, with some lawmakers calling for Huang to testify before Congress, the reaction in China has been to downplay the significance. Chinese officials have sought to discredit the espionage allegations, while social media users seized on the personal tumult engulfing an American billionaire whose company is at the center of the race for dominance of the artificial intelligence industry between the two countries. On Weibo, China's heavily censored social media platform, users seemed to relish the fall from grace of a technology industry celebrity long admired across Asia. "Jensen Huang's 41-Year Loyal Husband Persona Falls Apart," was the platform's top trending topic Monday morning. Other users accused the American news media of smearing Alice Huang, who is not related to the Nvidia co-founder. The controversy erupted after The New York Times reported that U.S. government officials had determined that Alice Huang, an executive for a Singapore-based tech company called Megaspeed, was gathering intelligence for Beijing. The U.S. government had been investigating whether Megaspeed was helping to divert advanced Nvidia AI chips to China in violation of U.S. export controls. Authorities began surveilling Alice Huang more than a year ago and discovered she was communicating with an American citizen later identified as Jensen Huang, the Times reported. For Jensen Huang, the controversy is particularly striking because of his extraordinary popularity across Asia, where he enjoys a level of celebrity rarely accorded to corporate executives. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.