Between the chip and the slip: Honeytrap suspicions further sours ties between US and China

China has been chipping away at American technological primacy for years. Now, if US intelligence suspicions are borne out, it may have found a rather intimate way of getting close to the crown jewels of America’s AI empire – seducing its top chip honcho, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, in a honeytrap operation worthy of a spy thriller.

The allegations are explosive, although they remain unproven. Nvidia’s board, which includes Aarti Shah, an Indian-origin veteran from Eli Lilly, has launched an independent investigation into whether its 63-year-old chief executive was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. Beijing has denied the allegations, saying they are “nothing but smears against China.”