The Guardian view on Jensen Huang’s affair: why did Trump ignore the warnings? | Editorial

The AI chip boss’s actions raise urgent questions about corporate influence, national security and the US president’s willingness to listen to intelligence warnings

It could be the plot of a spy thriller. One of the most powerful figures in the AI revolution admitted to having an affair with a Chinese businesswomen said to have passed intelligence to Beijing. When Donald Trump was briefed about the Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang’s liaisons with Alice Huang, he took no action. Perhaps he thought only marriage vows had been broken. Or perhaps Mr Trump was willing to overlook the conduct of a friend who championed his unpopular datacentre expansion, whose company donated to his White House ballroom and who echoed his opposition to AI safeguards against expert advice.