Secrets, Chips and Spycraft: The Nvidia C.E.O. Scandal

Over the weekend, Jensen Huang, the chief executive and co-founder of Nvidia — which makes the chips that power artificial intelligence — admitted to having an affair with a woman who has been determined by U.S. officials to be a spy. That revelation came after The New York Times broke the story of how U.S. intelligence officers uncovered what they say was a plot by Alice Huang to use their relationship to funnel information to Beijing. Tripp Mickle, a White House correspondent for The Times, explains how Beijing tried to compromise one of the tech executives closest to President Trump, and what the scandal could mean for a company with enormous influence over the future of A.I. — and the entire American economy. Guest: Tripp Mickle, a tech reporter for The New York Times. Background reading: Jensen Huang’s tight grip on Nvidia presents a challenge for the company’s board, which is investigating his affair with a woman believed to be a Chinese spy. Mr. Huang acknowledged having had a relationship with a business executive who U.S. officials determined was working for Chinese intelligence. Photo: Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.