China hired businesswoman to spy on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: Report

A businesswoman was reportedly hired by China’s Ministry of State Security (M.S.S.) to spy on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, one of the world’s richest men, President Donald Trump’s favorite AI CEO. US intelligence officials were aware of this and in a memo had informed top policymakers.

A report that came out in the New York Times on Friday (Nov 6) citing people briefed on the intelligence said, "the businesswoman, Alice Huang, was recruited to collect intelligence on Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO." The purpose of Beijing to hire the spy was to learn more about US AI chips and influence the company to make its most advanced chips available in China.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is President Donald Trump’s favorite AI CEO, and an important player in next-generation GPUs needed for AI training and processing.

Nvidia’s advanced chips are in great demand across the globe. The company has grown multifold in the last few years and in return has helped drive the stock market.

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The memo informing US officials about a spy (Alice Huang) working directly for the main Chinese intelligence agency is an audacious example of China’s longstanding industrial espionage efforts.

The incident has not only been a focus of the US spy agencies but questions are also being raised at the Capitol Hill.

On Thursday, the Republican leaders of three influential House committees requested that Nvidia CEO appear before them later this month in a closed-door briefing related to his interactions with Alice Huang, reported New York Times.

The media house also reported that US intelligence agencies were conducting electronic surveillance of Ms Huang, a Chinese citizen, for at least a year.

The 'Chinese spy' speaks English well and is well connected with executives at the highest levels of the A.I. chip industry, including Nvidia CEO Huang, says the NYT report citing people who know her well. In fact Alice Huang is also close leaders of Gigabyte, one of the top assemblers of Nvidia supercomputers. She has attended industry conferences and private executive dinners too.