The world’s economy is only as strong as America’s neediest tech bro

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Tech companies, driving the modern economy, are high up on the target list. In the age of artificial intelligence, a chief executive is a player in national security. Nvidia’s…

“Turn your phone off and put it in the isolation box over there – it will stop signals coming in and out. No one will be able to hear our conversation.”

That is just one of the many spy thriller-style instructions that I have been given when visiting companies during my time as a journalist, and later as an executive. On a trip to a plane manufacturer, I wasn’t even allowed close to the production line in case I came away with any secrets.

Companies are paranoid, more so than ever in our world of geopolitical tensions with Russia and China, but that doesn’t make them any safer from espionage.

The resignation of Jensen Huang as boss of US chipmaker Nvidia amid a sex scandal and allegations of Chinese spying is proof that companies are vulnerable. No matter what precautions you take, the spy, or alleged spy in this case, will always get through. Tech companies, driving the modern economy, are high up on the target list. In the age of artificial intelligence, a chief executive is a player in national security.

Whatever the truth in this scandal, it will have global repercussions. Nvidia is too important for the powering of the world economy for the fallout to be contained within the walls of the company that Huang built. Some customers might worry that their operational details are now accessible to China, while US authorities could decide to further tighten computer chip export restrictions to the Chinese market.

Once again, as is often true, the entertainment world is ahead of the rest of us. The Netflix series Black Doves is all about a commercial spy agency set up to steal business secrets. Such enterprises do exist. It’s very lucrative.

Nothing is proven in the Nvidia scandal, but British companies would be foolish to conclude there is therefore nothing here to see.

The old picture of industrial espionage involved a man photographing blueprints after dark. The modern version can involve a LinkedIn message, a visiting researcher, a cloud account, a startup investment, an…

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