Washington, DC: Amidst global upheaval over alleged spy links of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Elon Musk came out in his support, saying that he may have done something “incredibly dumb”, but had no bad intentions.
This came after Jensen, a tech billionaire based in the US admitted to having an extramarital affair, with the confession drawing fresh scrutiny over his reported links to a Chinese businesswoman suspected of espionage.
China, meanwhile, has denied any role in the affair.
Musk backed a post on X that defended Jensen, arguing that although the Nvidia chief had “done something incredibly dumb”, he had no bad intentions. Responding to the post, Elon Musk wrote, “I agree.”
Jenaen was described as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation” in that post that said despite his personal mistakes, he remained “irreplaceable for America’s AI leadership”.
Jensen’s confession came after reports linked him to Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, who is suspected by the US government of having been recruited by a Chinese intelligence agency. Jensen did not name her in his statement or directly address the espionage allegations.
Musk is not the only prominent figure to have expressed support for Jensen Huang. US president Donald Trump described the Nvidia CEO as a “fine person” following his confession, as reported by News18.
“I haven’t heard he’s done anything wrong,” Trump said.
The US president said and Jensen Huang have maintained a close relationship. In September, Trump even called Jensen while the Nvidia chief was speaking on stage at the All-In Summit.
Musk also has longstanding business ties with Nvidia. His company, SpaceX, is a buyer of the chipmaker’s products. In 2016, Musk, who was then associated with OpenAI, became the first buyer of Nvidia’s DGX-1 AI supercomputer. Jensen personally delivered the first unit to Musk at OpenAI’s San Francisco office.
Nvidia makes some of the world’s most advanced AI chips, which are widely used in data centres.
Alice Huang, meanwhile, is a Chinese national and former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, a data centre company that purchases equipment powered by Nvidia chips. Megaspeed has been accused of helping Chinese businesses bypass US restrictions on advanced AI technology.
US intelligence agencies had identified communications involving Alice and an American citizen later identified as Jensen, reports said. Officials reportedly did not believe that the Nvidia CEO was aware of her alleged intelligence-gathering activities on behalf of Beijing.
Jensen had previously described his association with Alice as a “normal” business relationship, saying she worked for a Singapore-based Nvidia customer.
The two were reportedly seen together in public on at least two occasions: in Taipei around the Computex event in June 2024 and at a restaurant in Taiwan in May last year, alongside a Hong Kong executive. The Financial Times had previously described their connection as a “romantic relationship”.
Jensen admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologised to his family, in a message to employees.
“I was unfaithful to my wife,” he wrote, adding, “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
Its board had no reason to believe that national security or company secrets had been compromised but added that the inquiry would examine all available information, the company said.
