The Jen-Hsun Huang scandal highlights the national security concerns of the United States caused by China's scientific and technological intelligence activities. AI chips and key technologies have also become targets for intelligence collection amid the technological competition between the United States and China. (Bloomberg file photo)
[Compiled by Chen Chengliang/Comprehensive Report] Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was involved in an extramarital affair, and the woman, Alice Huang, was suspected by US officials of being related to the Chinese intelligence agency. An in-depth investigation by the Wall Street Journal pointed out that China collects Western artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor technology through various channels through government agencies, enterprises and private forces, ranging from interpersonal contacts, cyber attacks to academic cooperation. Last month, the FBI seized a phishing tool used by Chinese state-backed hackers, targeting two universities in Taiwan.
The report quoted a European intelligence agency as estimating that there are about 600,000 people in China engaged in intelligence and security-related work, far exceeding the scale of U.S. and European intelligence agencies. China’s intelligence activities not only rely on traditional espionage, but also include hacking attacks, corporate investment and funding of sensitive academic research. The goal is to obtain scientific and technological knowledge and narrow the technological gap with the United States.
Chen Yixin, China’s Minister of State Security, wrote in September that the rapid development of machine learning directly threatens the security of the Chinese Communist Party’s regime, system and ideology. WSJ pointed out that Xi Jinping hopes that China will catch up with the United States in terms of technology and military strength, and AI and semiconductors will therefore become important strategic areas.
The report mentioned that the U.S. White House accused China in April of using tens of thousands of proxy accounts to harvest U.S. AI model information on a large scale. Anthropic also stated that three Chinese AI companies have sent more than 16 million questions to their Claude model to train their products. The British Military Intelligence Service (MI5) warned in September that a Chinese research institution obtained AI results by funding British academic research, and more than 100 scholars may be unknowingly assisting Chinese intelligence activities.
Chinese phishing tool targets 2 universities in Taiwan
Cyberattacks are also an important channel for intelligence gathering. WSJ cited a 2023 FBI assessment that China supports at least 50 times more hackers than FBI cyber personnel. Last month, the FBI seized phishing tools used by Chinese state-backed hackers. Related attacks targeted U.S. power companies, airports in Japan and Poland, and two universities in Taiwan.
There is still no conclusive evidence whether Huang Le is a Chinese intelligence agent. Megaspeed, a Singaporean company where she once worked, is under investigation by the United States for allegedly circumventing export controls and exporting high-end Huida chips to China, but the company denies the relevant accusations. Huida's board of directors said there was no reason to believe that U.S. national security had been compromised; China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the espionage accusations were groundless and an attempt to smear China.
Former British MI6 operations director Nigel Inkster also pointed out that there is currently insufficient evidence to determine that Huang Le is an intelligence agent. However, Huang Jen-Hsun has a close relationship with U.S. President Trump and has influenced U.S. chip export policy to China, making him a possible target of interest to Chinese intelligence agencies.
