EU needs only ‘very trusted partners’ on AI chips, tech chief says amid Nvidia crisis

LISBON — The European Union should work “only with very trusted partners” on artificial intelligence microchips, its tech chief said Tuesday, just days after revelations of a spy scandal rocked industry leader Nvidia. “When we speak about very critical technologies, like AI semiconductors and quantum technologies, cybersecurity, satellites … it’s very important that we are working very closely only with very trusted partners,” said Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty.

She made the comments in an interview with POLITICO at the Web Summit tech fair in Lisbon, when asked about Europe’s reliance on Nvidia. It is Virkkunen’s first public comment since Nvidia opened an internal investigation into whether its CEO was targeted by a Chinese intelligence operation.

Top executive Jensen Huang admitted to an affair following a reported relationship with an executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed whom the U.S. government believes is a Chinese spy.