Nvidia's alleged Chinese spy affair and why Hasina may return to Bangladesh | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver. Conway and this is what we have coming. up. Was the head of Nvidia one of the. world's richest companies caught in a. Chinese honey trap? Jensen Wong is a. driving force in the AI boom and an. adviser to President Trump. Now he's. accused of having an affair with a. suspected Chinese spy. >> Jensen got played. Uh, you know, he fell. for it. >> We'll find out how much the White House. knew. Donald Trump was asked about this. and he expressed no regret about his.

decision not to act on the intelligence. that he was given. >> And we ask our security correspondent. about the AI race. >> We are in a global race for supremacy. when it comes to data technology AI. quantum computing. >> And later Shik Cassina, former prime. minister of Bangladesh faces the death. penalty if she returns from exile. So. why does she say she wants to go home? She wants to surrender and face uh. whatever comes on her way.

The US tech giant Nvidia is. investigating claims its boss Jensen. Hang had an affair with a suspected. Chinese spy. The woman Alice Hong was an. executive at a Singapore-based firm Mega. Speed that bought chips from Nvidia. The. 63-year-old Jensen Wong has admitted. having an affair. We heard more about. Nvidia's probe from our tech. correspondent, Lily Jamali. >> This investigation will be headed by. independent directors on Nvidia's board.

with the help of outside counsel. They. have said in a statement on Sunday that. they will be looking at all the facts, but they also expressed confidence in. Mr. Wong and his leadership team. It. appears that they want him to stay put. My sources tell me that there is so much. money on the line and there is also no. clear succession plan in place. Remember. that Nvidia isn't just the designer of. high-end AI chips. It has also become.

the most important financeier of the AI. ecosystem helping to invest in AI. developers as well as in startups that. are building the physical infrastructure. that makes all of that AI development. possible. As for Alice Wong, she heads. up a data center company based in. Singapore that has been probed in the. past for flouting US export controls, helping to illegally smuggle Nvidia.

chips into China. Nvidia tells me that. after that probe, those allegations were. debunked. And yet, US intelligence. officials clearly still had concerns. So. much so that they actually briefed US. President Donald Trump about this. According to the New York Times on. Sunday, uh Donald Trump was asked about. this and he expressed no regret about. his decision not to act on the. intelligence that he was given. >> So how serious is this for Jensen Hang.

and Nvidia? Steven Wit has written a. book about the firm. He spoke to Steve. Lie in Singapore. >> Jensen got played uh you know he fell. for it. Uh I think uh Miss Alice Wong is. a woman who was running a big data. center operation in Malaysia and and. most of the chips that were shipped. there were either diverted directly into. China or used kind of illicitly and. accessed by Chinese entities. It should. have been obvious that this woman had. some red flags about her. She had no uh. business background. She had no computer.

science background. Uh Megaspe just kind. of came out of nowhere to start building. these data centers. So, it seems like. there's a there's a great uh amount of. risk for Jensen here. He's in trouble in. a way that he's never been in trouble. before. >> Yeah. And there's going to be an. investigation. Do you have confidence in. that investig? What do you think it's. going to reveal? >> I think the board will keep Jensen on. There's no there's no meaningful. replacement for Jensen inside the. company. There's no second in command. Where he faces a huge risk is in fact. the looming congressional investigation. So, the US Congress, both the.

Republicans and the Democrats are going. to try and bring Jensen in front of. Congress to testify. And there it may be. revealed uh that in fact, you know, he. knew what was going on in mega speed. Not only that, this woman that he's. having an affair with appears to be an. asset of Chinese intelligence. Well, Jensen is one of the president's top. tech adviserss. So, there's a big. problem there. If she's influencing him. and using him as a cutout to manipulate. Trump, that's a real risk. Both of those. things could bring Jensen down. >> Yeah. Nvidia's board has said that their.

national security has not been. compromised and they're looking into it. I suppose that will be a significant. concern given the position that Jensen. Hong has and Nvidia has sitting in. between at well at the top of the sort. of AI revolution in between the US and. China when it comes to chips. >> Well, sure. Well, Jensen is Nvidia. I. mean, he's founded it. He's been the CEO. for over 30 years. Of course, Nvidia is. going to protect Jensen. That's obvious. The question is what Congress does. The. question is the fallout from the US. government. This is a very significant. security breach. In addition, on top of. the smuggling problem, it's a huge.

breach for Trump and his team. My. impression is that it was actually. inside the White House that this. information originally leaked from. It. looks like Marco Rubio, the US Secretary. of State, prepared this document and. shared it with Trump. Uh, and then when. Trump didn't do anything about it, it. was leaked to the press. >> The Chinese foreign ministry has denied. spying on Nvidia, saying the allegations. amount to a smear. But they come ahead. of President Trump's visit to China next. week. I heard more from our security. correspondent Frank Gardner.

>> There's no question that China has a. huge interest in US technology and we. are in a global race for supremacy when. it comes to data technology, AI, quantum. computing and China is right at the in. the front lines of that race. So Jensen. Hang would have been an amazing target. if it turns out that he was indeed. targeted by a Chinese asset. And I've no. doubt China is going to deny every. single bit of this, but Western.

countries, intelligence agencies also. target people of interest. So, you know, it's not as if China is the only one. doing this, but they just do it on a. massive scale. Let's turn to another story now, one. that's making headlines in South Asia. Two years after she was overthrown in a. violent studentled uprising in. Bangladesh, the ousted prime minister. Shik Hassina says she wants to go home. She's requested a new passport and.

identity card so she can return from. self-imposed exile in India. But the. Bangladeshi authorities say she should. be extradited. I asked our global. affairs reporter Anarisan Eti Rajan why. Shik Cassina is doing this now. She told. a media interview a couple of months ago. that she wants to surrender and face uh. whatever comes on her way when she. returns to Bangladesh. Now she has been. living in the Indian capital for the. past 2 years after she was forced out of.

the country following this violent. uprising. Now she faces the death. penalty there back in Bangladesh for. what the Bangladeshi court say crimes. against humanity for hundreds of people. killed during this uprising against her. long rule which many describe as an. autocratic rule and there has been also. pressure on India for the last few years. uh because the current Bangladeshi. administration led by the new prime.

minister Tarak Rakman he has been bit. reluctant to make any bilateral visit to. Delhi pointing out that Shik Kasina is. still there. A lot of people are angry. with her back in the country. So she. should be extradited back uh because. she's wanted by the Bangladeshi courts. and the judicial authorities and that is. probably one of the reasons why she. wants to go back even though she forged. very close ties with India during her.

probably about 20 year rule in different. times. But it is also becoming a. diplomatic issue. >> Yeah. I mean as you say she faces the. death penalty. What would her return. mean for the situation in Bangladesh? >> That's a real worry for many people back. in Bangladesh. Still her party Awami. League has a considerable support among. Bangladeshies and they have also been. holding minor hitand-run protests for. the past few weeks. So on the one side. you have people really angry like.

student leaders who say that hundreds of. people were killed by security forces. when she was in power when she was. trying to suppress these protest. movement. On the other hand you also. have the country's largest Islamist. party the Jamaat Islami. They are also. very angry because some of the leaders. were hanged uh during a rule because of. the alleged crimes committed during the. country's independence war. So there is. a widespread anger and also at the same. time her own party people they want her. to come back because many of them are in.

jail many leaders are in uh are in the. prison for on corruption charges so it. is going to create a very tense. situation and that is a big worry for. many people in Bangladesh. >> briefly do you think she will go back to. Bangladesh. >> she's trying to make this move but she. doesn't want to be extradited but it all. depends on whether Bangladeshi. government wants to give her a passport. and an identity card as she has. requested. >> And that is all from us for now. To hear. more about the topics we cover today, you can find an audio version of the.

Global News podcast wherever you get. your podcasts. If you want to get in. touch, our contact details are below. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.