Commentary: Jensen Huang’s downfall will accelerate US-China ‘great decoupling’

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Whether Alice Huang was a spy, whether the Nvidia CEO was compromised or whether US national security was jeopardised remains to be confirmed. The political damage may already…

Whether Alice Huang was a spy, whether the Nvidia CEO was compromised or whether US national security was jeopardised remains to be confirmed. The political damage may already have been done, says Enodo Economics’ Diana Choyleva.

LONDON: The scandal engulfing Nvidia's Jensen Huang, who resigned as CEO on Thursday (Nov 12) after 33 years at the company he co-founded, could have consequences far beyond the fate of one of the world's most influential technology executives.

With the woman linked to him suspected to be a Chinese spy, his extramarital affair has taken on geopolitical proportions, given Nvidia is at the centre of the US-China AI rivalry.

Alice Huang is a former executive at Singapore-based cloud computing provider Megaspeed, a major Nvidia customer that has come under US scrutiny over concerns about the possible diversion of advanced AI chips to China. When the scandal broke, US intelligence officials reportedly believed that she was working for China's Ministry of State Security.

No evidence supporting that allegation has been made public. On Thursday, US Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a press conference that the Justice Department is investigating and there was not yet any conclusion about whether she was a Chinese spy.

Whether she was a spy, whether Jensen Huang was compromised, or whether US national security was jeopardised remains to be established. Yet the political damage may already have been done.

The scandal has weakened Washington's strongest voices for relaxing semiconductor export controls just as Congress is moving to tighten them.

Huang has consistently argued against restricting China's access to American chips. His reasoning is that keeping China dependent on US technology is preferable to accelerating Beijing's drive for technological self-sufficiency.

With Nvidia's advanced semiconductors a critical resource in the global contest for AI leadership, Huang had acquired extraordinary influence over Washington's approach to deciding how…

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