Elon Musk believes Nvidia's Jensen Huang is irreplaceable after affair goes public

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dropped a bombshell on Sunday when he confessed his extramarital affair. While Jensen did not name the person, his statement came after reports linked him to alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang. But amid concerns of espionage, tech trillionaire Elon Musk has come to Jensen’s defence.On X, Musk responded to a post that defended Jensen Huang’s position. The post said that while the Nvidia CEO “did something incredibly dumb,” he had “no bad intention” behind it. Elon Musk replied, stating, “I agree.”The post added that Jensen is “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation.” And despite the mistakes made by the Nvidia CEO, he is “irreplaceable for America’s AI leadership.”Nvidia makes some of the most advanced AI chips that are used in data centres globally. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is also a buyer of Nvidia chips. Jensen Huang and Musk share a longstanding relationship. Musk (then working with OpenAI) was the first buyer of Nvidia’s first AI supercomputer, the Nvidia DGX-1, in 2016. At the time, Huang personally delivered the first unit to Musk at OpenAI’s San Francisco office.. Musk is not the only one to come out in support of the Nvidia chief. US President Donald Trump called Jensen a "fine person" after the latter's confession. "I haven't heard he's done anything wrong," he added. Trump is known to have a healthy relationship with Jensen Huang. The US president even made a phone call to Huang while the Nvidia CEO was on stage at the All-In Summit in September.Jensen Huang had affair with alleged Chinese spyThe story revolves around Jensen Huang’s connection with Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang. Alice, also known as Huang Le, is a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed who is suspected by the US government of having been recruited by a Chinese intelligence agency. After reports first emerged of Jensen and Alice having a close relationship, and the latter allegedly being a spy for Beijing, the Nvidia CEO came clean. In a memo to Nvidia employees, Huang admitted being unfaithful and apologised to his family. “I was unfaithful to my wife,” he wrote. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”Huang did not name Alice Huang or directly address the allegations concerning China in the memo. He said he would cooperate fully with Nvidia’s investigation.Jensen and Alice were spotted publicly on two occasions. First in June 2024 in Taipei around Computex. The second, in May last year, in a restaurant in Taiwan along with a Hong Kong executive. Financial Times previously described their connection as a “romantic relationship.”As per reports, US intelligence agencies identified communications involving Alice Huang and an American citizen who was later identified as Jensen Huang. Officials reportedly did not believe that Jensen was aware about Alice allegedly collecting information for Beijing. Huang had previously described his association with her, who worked for a Singapore-based Nvidia customer, as a “normal” business relationship.Alice Huang is a Chinese national. Megaspeed, a data centre company that buys equipment powered by Nvidia chips, has been accused of helping Chinese businesses bypass US restrictions on advanced AI technology. Nvidia said its board had no reason to believe that national security or company secrets had been compromised, but the inquiry would examine all available information.This fiasco is gaining political steam. Senior House Republicans have sought a briefing from Huang over national security concerns, while China has rejected the espionage allegations as “groundless speculation.”- Ends