Artificial intelligence companies are hiring former intelligence officers to protect themselves from espionage.
According to the foreign news agency, this risk became more prominent when the scandal of Jensen Huang, the head of the American chipmaker Nvidia, and two women, including an alleged Chinese spy, was revealed, after which Jensen Huang resigned from his position.
Nvidia says it does not believe that there was any compromise on national security or company secrets. On the other hand, China has rejected the espionage allegations.
Former intelligence officers, recruiters and company insiders told Reuters that the surge in demand for artificial intelligence has led chipmakers, AI companies and tech companies to beef up their security systems in recent years.
Hiring counterintelligence specialists is a new trend among leading AI companies, according to Revolut Labs, a job and recruitment trends tracker. Companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Anodia have advertised more explicit positions in the past two years. Most of them offer salaries ranging from $200,000 to about $500,000.
According to the news agency, Catherine Marines Yacoub, a former CIA officer working for the strategic risk and security firm Control Risks, said that companies value counterintelligence experts because of their ability to spot threats such as employees stealing trade secrets and attempts by executives to exploit vulnerabilities through blackmail or pressure.
OpenAI added former US National Security Agency director Paul Nakasone to its board and safety and security committee in June 2024. The company is now recruiting a senior global security investigator, whose ad lists counterintelligence as a key skill.
OpenAI’s rival company Anthropic has added former CIA deputy director David Cohen and former National Security Agency cybersecurity director Dave Loeber to its national security advisory council, which was established in August 2025.
