Fake Lianhe Zaobao report claims Jensen Huang joined Hong Kong university as adjunct professor

A fake Lianhe Zaobao report circulating on social media claims that Nvidia founder Jensen Huang has joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) as an adjunct professor and strategic consultant.

The report uses the layout of the Lianhe Zaobao front page, but the Chinese newspaper said it has never published such a report.

HKUST has also not announced any such appointment, according to Zaobao.

Fake Zaobao report claimed that Huang will take in PhD students from university's campuses

The doctored image is dated Nov. 13 and copies Zaobao's masthead and page layout, paired with a photo of Huang giving a speech and a photo of the HKUST campus.

The fake report claimed that Huang has joined HKUST as a professor and strategic consultant, is taking part in the university's research in AI and computing fields, and also claimed that Huang will take in PhD students from two of the university's campuses.

It further said that Huang stated that he believed HKUST has the potential to become the "MIT of the East", a reference to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world's leading institutions in science and technology.

Doctored image

In its article, Zaobao highlighted key flaws that exposed the doctored image, such as the article carrying the byline of a reporter who had already left the newspaper.

The email address listed was also wrong, and the cover price did not match the paper's actual price.

The fake report was not entirely made up, as the photos in it are real.

In November 2024, HKUST conferred an honorary doctorate in engineering on Huang, and he attended events at the university at the time.

Fake news and fake accounts circulating all over internet

Huang has been embroiled in a series of scandals in the past weeks, and is suspected of having three affairs in total.

He stepped down as Nvidia CEO on Nov. 12 after the scandals hit a fever pitch.

Amid the influx of coverage on Huang, false information has been thrown into the mix.

Midas Project, a U.S. nonprofit that monitors AI safety, found more than 400 fake social media accounts posing as ordinary users who defended Huang and backed Nvidia's move to sell cutting-edge AI semiconductor chips to Chinese companies, reported Chosun Biz.