Courtney Rozen
US President Donald Trump’s shut relationship with embattled Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang got here beneath renewed scrutiny, after the corporate mentioned its board was investigating whether or not the tech govt has been the goal of a international intelligence effort.
Huang is one in every of Trump’s closest allies in Silicon Valley, and the connection between the 2 dates to at the least 2025. Over the previous two years, he has repeatedly voiced help for the administration’s agenda and turn into an everyday presence in Washington as Nvidia sought to promote superior chips to the Chinese language market.
Superior chips are the spine of the US AI increase and authorities officers have beforehand tried to limit China’s entry to them by export controls to stifle its AI capabilities.
Nvidia’s board launched its probe after a New York Instances report mentioned Huang had a detailed relationship with a Chinese language businesswoman whom US intelligence officers imagine handed data to the Chinese language authorities. Nvidia shares hit a seven-month low on Wall Avenue on Monday, wiping lots of of billions of {dollars} off the worth of the corporate.
As one in every of Silicon Valley’s largest celebrities throughout the AI increase, Huang’s confession plunges Nvidia right into a disaster that threatens to reverberate by the broader trade. After advocating for years to promote extra of Nvidia’s AI processors to China, the world’s largest marketplace for chips, his hyperlinks to the nation will come beneath better scrutiny than ever earlier than.
“This tech competitors is actually occurring on the stage of personal corporations, that are headed by CEOs,” former US intelligence analyst Elly Rostoum instructed Bloomberg TV. “This appears fairly frankly fairly careless.”
A direct line
Huang has a direct line to the president. A Reuters reporter noticed Huang’s full identify pop up on Trump’s cellphone in December 2025.
Huang flew with Trump to China on Air Power One in Could, the primary go to by a US president to China in practically a decade. Huang attended a high-profile state dinner in September for Chinese language President Xi Jinping on the White Home. The corporate dedicated $US25 million ($36.2 million) for Trump’s deliberate White Home ballroom, in line with media studies.
The New York Instances reported that Trump was briefed on Huang’s relationship with the lady and that she was giving data to the Chinese language authorities, and selected to not act on the data.
Neither the White Home nor Nvidia’s communications workforce instantly responded to a Reuters request for touch upon their relationship.
China denied it engaged in an try and ensnare the Nvidia CEO, saying the spying allegations had been unsubstantiated and a smear marketing campaign in opposition to Beijing.
In a routine information briefing, a Chinese language spokesperson rejected claims it used the lady as a spy.
“The so-called Chinese language spy allegation is unsubstantiated. It’s nothing however smears in opposition to China,” Ministry of International Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun mentioned on Monday.
As one in every of Silicon Valley’s largest celebrities throughout the AI increase, Huang’s confession plunges Nvidia right into a disaster that threatens to reverberate by the broader trade.
Huang’s relationship with Trump has coincided with a number of beneficial coverage developments for the corporate. In April 2025, the administration backed off plans to limit exports of sure Nvidia AI chips to China after Huang attended a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago membership in Florida.
In December 2025, Trump mentioned the US would enable Nvidia to export its H200 processors, its second-best AI chips, to China and acquire a 25 per cent price on such gross sales.
Trump has lavished Huang with reward, awarding him the nation’s highest honour for scientific achievement in October. The identical day Trump gave Huang the award, the president disclosed shopping for as much as $US1.6 million and promoting as much as $US1 million in Nvidia inventory throughout the summer time.
White Home spokesperson Davis Ingle instructed Reuters on the time that third-party monetary establishments independently handle the president’s portfolio.
Trump instructed reporters he had not spoken to Huang in regards to the allegations, calling Huang an “honourable man.”
“I hope every thing’s fantastic,” he mentioned about Huang. “He’s carried out such an unbelievable job.”