'Why spend on R&D?' Chandrasekhar mocks China's 'easier way' over Nvidia spy claim

"Chinas 'R&D' strategy has for decades been built on shortcuts," Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar quipped as China has came under scrutiny over the alleged honeytrapping of Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, who was reportedly in touch with a Chinese national. "Why spend money on R&D when you have an easier, cheaper, faster way to access tech through Honeytrapping ?" the former Rajya Sabha member wrote on X as the developments has redemonstrated the growing national security risks as the US and China compete for dominance in artificial intelligence, with access to sensitive technology emerging as a key battleground. Kerala BJP chief said: "For China the ends justify their means - any means, any way - that’s their way. No global ethics or norms like Trust apply to them. Anyone who has studied Tech history of last 3 decades and Chinas rise will also learn about the “China way”." The leader also highlighted his 6-year-old X post, claiming how "China has harvested (aka stolen) most of its tech from - this Tech proliferation has been helped by people from those countries eithrr [sic] deliberately or stealing."

China rejects espionage allegations

China has rejected allegations that it was involved in an espionage operation targeting Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, calling the claims baseless and a “smearing”. "The narrative of a so-called Chinese spy is entirely baseless vilification and smearing.", foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a media briefing, as quoted by AFP. The denial comes as Nvidia’s board has launched an independent investigation into reports that Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation involving Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed.

US authorities reportedly suspect that she was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to gather information about the Nvidia chief and the company. The allegations have also drawn scrutiny to Megaspeed, which buys Nvidia’s AI chips and has been investigated over suspicions that it helped Beijing gain access to advanced processors restricted from export to China. Huang recently admitted in a message to Nvidia employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologised to his family and colleagues, without naming the woman involved. Nvidia’s board said it had no reason to believe that US national security or the company’s secrets had been compromised, but would examine all available information. Huang has backed the investigation and agreed to cooperate.