Trump says US is 'looking very closely' at reports of Chinese surveillance targeting Nvidia chief

Trump's reaction to the report on surveillance

US President Donald Trump on Saturday expressed support for Nvidia chipmaker chief Jensen Huang after reports emerged that he may have been the target of a Chinese spying operation, saying the US was looking into the situation 'very closely.' This was reported by AFP citing remarks made by the president at his residence in Florida.

What the reports say and Beijing's position

According to The New York Times, which AFP cites, US intelligence agencies concluded that a Chinese executive linked to a data center company registered in Singapore, who had interacted with Huang, was passing information to Beijing. China rejected the report, calling it 'baseless speculation.'

What Trump said about Huang

'I have great respect for Jensen. I didn't know about the specific case, but I hope everything turns out fine for him. He is a great, brilliant man, and we want to protect our brilliant people,' Trump told reporters, adding: 'We will look into this very closely.' Asked whether he would keep Huang as an adviser, the president replied: 'I would like to say yes. Unless we find out something to the contrary, I have always found Jensen Huang to be absolutely honest,' while noting that this was 'a very complicated question.'

Huang's role in US-China policy

Huang advised Trump on artificial intelligence policy and in May was among the tech executives who accompanied the president on his trip to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The Taiwan-born businessman advocated for the use of his company's chips in China, where Beijing is accelerating the development of its own semiconductors. No measures taken or results of any review had been reported as of the time of publication.