Europe needs Nvidia. It’ll take more than a spy scandal to change that.

BRUSSELS — Last month, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang got Europe’s full red-carpet treatment from the likes of King Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Now it’s crickets.

As an alleged Chinese spy scandal engulfs the man running the world’s dominant AI microchips producer, potentially awkward questions loom for European leaders in both the public and private sectors who rubbed shoulders and inked deals with Huang. But the silence also reflects the cold economic and strategic reality that Europe has no homegrown alternative to Nvidia.

A German government spokesperson said Monday in response to a barrage of questions on the upheaval at Nvidia that it “does not comment on the media reports,” and that “we always adhere to the highest standards, including when agreements are being reached.” A European Commission spokesperson also had no comment on the matter. In both Silicon Valley and Washington, investigators are already busy.