Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang May Have Been Used to Feed China False Information

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy could have put American secrets at risk ... or it may have been the perfect opportunity to turn the tables on China.

Former CIA and State Department official Nicholas Eftimiades joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday ... explaining how Chinese intelligence may have used the woman's close relationship with Jensen to gather sensitive information.

Nicholas says Chinese officials could have recruited her after learning she had access to Jensen ... potentially coaching her on what information to collect and how to keep him close.

But here's the twist ... Nicholas says U.S. intelligence reportedly knew about the suspected operation for an entire year, raising the possibility American officials were feeding false information to China through Jensen.

He calls it a "wilderness of mirrors" ... a tactic where intelligence agencies deliberately mislead their enemies. Of course, he stressed there's no way to know if that's what happened here.

As TMZ previously reported ... Jensen admitted to cheating on his wife Lori Huang with Alice Huang, a tech executive whose company did business with Nvidia and who is suspected of having ties to Chinese intelligence.

Nvidia is investigating, though its board says there's no evidence company secrets were compromised.

The scandal has also sparked a class action lawsuit accusing Nvidia of misleading investors ... adding to the company's growing headaches.