China dismisses Nvidia chief spy plot claim as ‘smear campaign’

Jensen Huang is said to have told the firm’s board that he had an affair with someone who was determined to be gathering intelligence for China (AP)

Chinese officials have denied there was a spy plot attempt to ensnare Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, calling the allegations unsubstantiated and a smear campaign against Beijing.

Mr Huang has acknowledged to the Nvidia board that he had an affair with a business executive who US intelligence determined was gathering information for Beijing, according to The New York Times.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday: “The so-called Chinese spy allegation is unsubstantiated. It is nothing but smears against China.”

The microchips company chief executive is at the centre of a controversy over whether he drove sales of advanced computer chips to China, in spite of US tech restrictions aimed at limiting China’s ability to access these advanced technologies.

Nvidia said on Sunday that the company would launch an investigation into the case. Mr Huang did not name the person involved in the extramarital affair.

China had previously denied the New York Times report that said Mr Huang had developed a close relationship with a Chinese citizen named Alice Huang, who ran a company that faced claims of smuggling advanced microchips into China, and that she was a spy for Beijing.

Mr Huang had pushed to loosen microchip sales restrictions to China, successfully lobbying US president Donald Trump to allow his company to sell H200 chips.

While those chips are not Nvidia’s most cutting-edge models, they are still advanced.

However, it is uncertain if Beijing would allow Chinese companies to buy these microchips en masse.