Intelligence agencies continue to wield the so-called 'honey trap'—using romantic relationships to extract confidential information—even in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has become embroiled in a scandal involving an affair with a woman suspected of passing information to the Chinese government.
CNN reported that Huang resigned after a week of turmoil following reports of his affair with Alice Huang, who is suspected by U.S. authorities of having shared information with the Chinese government. Authorities are also investigating whether Alice Huang was involved in smuggling advanced AI chips.
However, the specifics of how Alice Huang was recruited and whether any actual information was leaked remain unverified. The Chinese government has dismissed the espionage allegations as "baseless speculation." Isaac Stone Fish, founder of the corporate intelligence firm Strategy Risks, told CNN that the relationship itself poses a significant issue, regardless of whether any confidential information was actually shared.
The 'honey trap' is a longstanding tactic in espionage. John Cipher, a former CIA officer, explained to CNN that authoritarian regimes can pressure agents by leveraging family connections or issues related to returning home to facilitate information gathering.
The methods of honey traps vary, from exploiting sexual vulnerabilities to trained agents directly approaching and seducing targets. However, Cipher noted that it is often the case that intelligence agencies identify already established romantic relationships and then recruit one party to extract information.
Historically, similar cases have recurred. During the Cold War, East Germany's secret police trained attractive men as 'Romeo spies' to approach female secretaries in West German government agencies and Western diplomatic missions. In China, a male Peking opera performer maintained a relationship for about 20 years with French diplomat Bernard Boursicot, who believed him to be a woman, and received embassy secrets in return.
In the early 2000s, Katrina Leung, a Chinese-American FBI informant, was revealed to be a double agent passing secrets to China while also having a romantic relationship with her FBI handler.
Experts predict that as AI technology becomes a cornerstone of national competitiveness, intelligence agencies will increasingly target executives in related companies. Peter Mattis, director of the Jamestown Foundation, assessed that since AI is broadly utilized across manufacturing, scientific research, and military sectors, any senior executive in AI firms could become a target for intelligence agencies.
Cipher explained that even if the success rate of honey traps is only about 10%, successfully recruiting just a few individuals with critical information can yield significant results. Additionally, Stone Fish warned that this incident could further exacerbate distrust between the U.S. and China.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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