Nvidia is investigating its chief executive, billionaire Jensen Huang, after he confirmed he had an intimate relationship with a woman accused of working for Chinese intelligence. The US chipmaker announced the probe on Sunday.
The investigation will be carried out by a committee of independent directors, which will receive help from outside legal counsel. Huang will continue to lead the company while the review is under way.
Board expresses confidence in Huang during probe
In its statement, Nvidia’s board of directors said it had no reason to believe that national security or the company’s secrets had been compromised. It added that the inquiry would examine all available information.
The board also said it remained confident in Huang and his leadership team. On the same day, Huang told Nvidia staff by email that he had been unfaithful to his wife. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did,” he said.
The probe follows a report last month suggesting that Huang may have been the target of a Chinese espionage plot. The company’s rise has taken place against a backdrop of intense rivalry between China and the United States over key technologies, including artificial intelligence.
Nvidia has seen demand for its chips and programming interfaces surge during the AI boom, pushing its value into the trillions of dollars. For years, Washington has tried to limit the export of advanced chips to China, citing concern that the country could gain an edge in its technology and military sectors.
Espionage allegations and Chinese Embassy denial
On October 29, a US newspaper said it had obtained exclusive information that a Chinese woman named Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, had tried to build close ties with Jensen Huang. According to the report, the aim was to gather information about Nvidia’s technology. Alice Huang is not related to Jensen Huang.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, has denied any allegations of spying in the case. The newspaper also reported that Alice Huang’s employer, Megaspeed, had become one of Nvidia’s largest buyers, purchasing about $4.8bn in equipment from the company.
The newspaper’s account, which Nvidia’s board has not said it has verified, has been treated as the starting point for the current scrutiny. The board’s statement did not address the specific claims about Alice Huang beyond its general statement on national security.
Congress demands answers as Trump comments on Huang
Jensen Huang’s ties to Alice Huang sparked strong bipartisan criticism in Congress after the report. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a statement that “for months, bipartisan members of Congress have raised concerns about NVIDIA’s advanced AI chips going to China.”
Warren added that “NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and NVIDIA’s board owe Congress answers.” Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives also asked Huang to appear and testify before Congress about the affair on November 18.
Republicans John Moolenaar, Brian Mast and Rick Crawford said in a joint statement that “it is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk.”
Huang has worked closely with US President Donald Trump since Trump returned to office in 2025. In August of that year, the administration said it would take a 15 percent cut of certain Nvidia chip sales to China. Reports said Trump bought as much as $1.6m in Nvidia stock and sold about $1m of it in August, ahead of the November midterm elections.
After the midterm races last Tuesday, shares of AI-related companies, including Nvidia, fell sharply after widespread Republican losses. Nvidia lost $450bn in market value in a single trading day last week, but it recovered 4 percent of those losses on Friday.
Asked by reporters whether Huang would travel with him to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China in November, Trump was noncommittal. “I don’t know, but I’d certainly take him,” he said from the tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida. “I haven’t heard he’s done anything wrong. He dealt with somebody, but so does everybody else.”
Trump described Huang as a “fine person” who has done an “amazing job for our country”. Speaking about the speculation over Huang’s conduct, he said: “I think he’s an honourable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it.”
