China denied on Monday it engaged in an attempt to ensnare Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, saying the spying allegations were unsubstantiated and a smear campaign against Beijing.
Huang has acknowledged he had been intimate with a business executive, issuing an apology to his wife and to the company in an open letter posted on Nvidia’s website. He did not name the woman.
Nvidia announced Sunday it was conducting an independent investigation into reports that Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort.”
The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence determined that the woman was gathering information for Beijing.
“I support the investigation and will cooperate fully. I love our country and our company. I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America’s national security,” Huang said in his letter.
In a routine news briefing Monday, a Chinese spokesperson rejected claims it used the woman as a spy.
“The so-called Chinese spy allegation is unsubstantiated. It is nothing but smears against China,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday.
Beijing earlier had dismissed The New York Times report saying Huang had developed a close relationship with a Chinese citizen named Alice Huang, who ran a company that last year faced claims it was illicitly shipping advanced Nvidia computer chips into China.
Nvidia shares dropped roughly 5% in pre-market trading early Monday.
The New York Times said Alice Huang was a former executive of a Singapore-based data center company called Megaspeed International, whose website prominently touts its partnership with Nvidia.
Many offices in Singapore were closed on Monday for a holiday. Megaspeed and the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Nvidia is one of the world’s most valuable publicly traded companies, alongside Apple and Microsoft. Its sales of computer chips to China have at times been targeted by U.S. regulators seeking to limit Beijing’s access to such technology.
“The key questions are whether he was aware of any espionage activities and whether any confidential or strategically sensitive information was compromised,” said George Chen, a partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, a Washington-based consultancy.
