If Jensen Huang’s lover was a Chinese spy what does it mean for the AI race?

With media speculation growing and investors getting nervous, on Sunday Jensen Huang issued a statement.

The chief executive of US tech giant Nvidia acknowledged having an extramarital relationship with a woman suspected by US intelligence of being a Chinese spy.

Huang is close to US president Donald Trump. He is one of the billionaire tech elite frequently seen at meetings and business events with the president.

On Monday, Trump was on Huang’s side, acknowledging the admission of an affair but saying he believed Huang when he said he had no idea that the woman, Alice Huang, might be a spy.

But with the liaison viewed as having national security implications, how long has the president known?

China correspondent Denis Staunton writes in his Irish Times Global Briefing newsletter that as president Xi Jinping and Trump prepare to meet next week in China, a spy scandal should be the last thing either of them need.

So can Jensen Huang weather this very public scandal? What prompted him to issue that all-staff email? And will the internal investigation in Nvidia into his actions oust him from the company he founded?

Denis Staunton explains the scandal and the view from Beijing.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon.