Trump Was Told About Nvidia CEO's Affair On Flight To China: Report

Despite his denial, US President Donald Trump was reportedly informed at least twice about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also sent a highly classified memo to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about Huang's extramarital affair with Chinese executive Alice Huang, according to American media reports. 

Rubio, who is the national security adviser, also delivered the news of Nvidia leader's paramour being a possible Chinese spy to Trump shortly before Jensen Huang joined the presidential trip to Beijing at the President's invitation, sources told The New York Times. 

CNN, meanwhile, reported that Rubio briefed Donald Trump on intelligence about the affair as they travelled to China in May aboard Air Force One.

It was reportedly the second time in seven months that Trump was told of intelligence about Huang's involvement with the Chinese executive. The newly reported update contradicts the American commander-in-chief's assertion this week that he had not known at the time of the trip about Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, whom US officials had concluded was working for China's Ministry of State Security.

What Trump Said

When asked whether he knew about Huang's affair when he headed to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump told reporters, "No, I didn't hear about it then."

But The New York Times reported that Trump was first warned about the Huang affair with the woman, who was believed to be working for Chinese intelligence, last year, but he reportedly "played down or dismissed the concerns."

When first briefed on the issue late last fall, Trump chose to take no action, the report claimed. 

When pressed about whether he had received a briefing on the issue last year, Trump said, "I'd certainly check with the intelligence people. They could have been mentioned. Certainly, it didn't make much of an impact on me."

Trump has embraced Nvidia as key to US technology competitiveness and a driver of the stock market's rise over the past several years. Since Huang's admission of his relationship, Nvidia has shed about $430 billion in market value.

The allegations have turned Huang's personal conduct into a broader risk for Nvidia, raising questions about the company's governance and its dependence on the CEO who has led it for more than three decades and built it into the dominant supplier of AI chips. He owns about 3.6 per cent of the company -- but does not have majority voting control -- and runs an unusually flat organisation in which dozens of executives report directly to him.

The admission has also focused new attention on the intensity of the competition between the United States and China over supremacy in the artificial intelligence race, a rivalry in which Nvidia's advanced chips are integral to the current American advantage. And they have put a new spotlight on Huang's influence with Trump and the administration on AI policy and issues affecting Nvidia.

Howard Lutnick Also Knew

US news publication Axios, citing sources, reported on Tuesday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was sent a highly classified memo warning about the Nvidia CEO's relationship with Alice Huang.

The development is significant because Lutnick oversees the agency responsible for keeping sensitive US technology out of the hands of American adversaries.

Separately, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that several US government agencies pushed for Megaspeed to be included on the entity list, a trade blacklist of groups connected to China that US officials say pose national security risks, but the US Commerce Department was delaying efforts to blacklist the company.

The Commerce Department had sought more information about some companies under consideration, the FT reported. It was unclear whether Megaspeed was among those companies, but the delay has left it off the list, according to the report.

The US Department of Commerce and Nvidia have not issued any statement on the allegations yet.