The New York Times says Trump, disregarding warnings about a China-linked spy, called Jensen Huang to urge him to stay at Nvidia.

Trump called Jensen Huang on Tuesday to urge him to keep fighting to retain his position; two days later, Huang stepped down as Nvidia CEO amid the spy scandal and the exposure of the extramarital affair, and CFO Colette Kress became interim CEO. According to The New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter, U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Alice Huang, a Chinese national with whom Huang had a romantic relationship, was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security; Trump received related warnings at least twice (late last year and this spring) but took no action, and still brought Huang along on his trip to China in May. U.S. authorities are also examining suspicions of transferring advanced chips to China in violation of export restrictions, but there is no public evidence that Huang himself passed confidential information to the Chinese government. Bipartisan lawmakers in Congress are demanding an investigation into whether his relationship leaked sensitive information about the U.S. AI industry and whether he ever decided to let a China-linked company obtain restricted chips; Trump continues to support Huang and has proposed former Apple CEO Tim Cook as a possible successor. Representatives for Huang, Trump and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.