Sex, spies and salaries shake up AI chipmakers

Detailed summary

The inside story on the Asia tech trends that matter, from Nikkei Asia and the Financial Times

Unless you've been offline since the weekend, your social media feeds have probably been swamped, like mine, with posts about the affair between Nvidia's chief Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, or Huang Le in Chinese. They range from reports by major media outlets to AI-generated memes and videos poking fun at the topic of the moment, likely powered by Nvidia chips.

An acquaintance who briefly overlapped with Huang at CCTV confirmed to me that she spent a short stint at the state broadcaster as an "intern reporter" about 20 years ago, before leaving for the more lucrative financial sector.

On social media, a carnival of unverified group photos said to be from her middle school graduation, screenshots of her WeChat posts showing off her close relationship with Jensen, and even her old business card as a partner at Shanghai private equity firm Hexi Investment have circulated.

Meanwhile, the buzz centers on whether Ms. Huang is a Chinese spy, an allegation The New York Times reported, citing senior U.S. policymakers. The allegation has sparked heated debate over whether the label fits at all, since the definition of a "spy" can be stretched very broadly.

Multiple U.S. media outlets reported Thursday morning that besides Alice, Jensen had a romantic relationship with Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, and its board has been holding an urgent meeting, amid speculation he will be ousted.

While the multi-billionaire's leadership fate hangs in the balance, it is already clear that the semiconductor boom that propelled Nvidia to the top and made his fortune has also created a vast wealth divide across Asia - a gap that shows little sign of narrowing anytime soon.

While the U.S. has historically offered higher wages than other countries for talent, workers in Asia, especially in South Korea and Taiwan, are beginning to push back against stagnant compensation, demanding a larger share of…

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