China rejects ‘baseless’ claims it spied on Nvidia boss

China dismissed allegations on Monday that it had spied on Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, describing the claims as "baseless" and "vilification". The foreign ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun, said this during a regular briefing, following Nvidia's board decision to probe media reports alleging a foreign intelligence effort. Nvidia announced on Sunday that it had initiated a probe into Huang after he admitted to an affair with a woman reportedly working for Chinese intelligence.

Beijing denied the claim. The New York Times reported last month that US intelligence concluded Alice Huang, a Chinese executive linked to a Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed, had been transmitting information to Beijing. Huang, also known as Huang Le, developed a close relationship with Nvidia's CEO. In a message to employees, Huang apologized for his actions, expressing regret for hurting his family and company staff.

The CEO, a key figure in the AI revolution and a close informal adviser to US President Donald Trump, acknowledged that his relationship with Alice Huang could have given her insights into Trump's thinking on AI. Trump, during a planned talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, did not rule out inviting Huang to the Asia-Pacific summit in China.

Despite allegations, Nvidia stated that while there is no evidence of compromised national security or secrets, the probe will examine all available information.