Nvidia probes whether CEO Jensen Huang was target of foreign spying as he admits affair
The developments are likely to pressure the chipmaker's stock, which has already seen sharp declines recently amid worries about AI sustainability.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks on stage during the Invest in Germany Summit in Berlin, on Oct 19, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Lisi Niesner)
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has admitted to an extramarital affair, apologising to his family and staff as the company launched an independent board probe into whether he was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation linked to the relationship.
"I was unfaithful to my wife," Huang wrote in a letter to Nvidia staff on Sunday (Nov 8). "My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."
Huang did not name the woman involved in his confession.
However, recent reports by The New York Times alleged that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive of Singapore-based tech firm Megaspeed. US authorities previously investigated Alice Huang, concluding she was acting as a Chinese intelligence asset.
Jensen Huang and Alice Huang are not related.
US authorities have scrutinised Megaspeed, which buys AI chips from Nvidia, over suspicions it helped Beijing gain access to advanced AI chips that are barred from shipment to China.
"The Nvidia Board is initiating an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation," Nvidia said.
The company said on Sunday that, while its board has no reason to believe that either US national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, its inquiry will examine all available information.
Huang fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it, it added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to comment on Huang when asked by reporters on Sunday evening.
PILING PRESSURE ON NVIDIA
The investigation adds to pressure on Nvidia at a time investors are already pulling back from uncertainty over the sustainability of the AI market, in which the company is a leader. The US$4.5 trillion chipmaker's shares have given up all their gains this year amid a broader tech market rout triggered by worries over AI sustainability.
"There is clearly risk that Jensen could be removed as CEO depending on the Board investigation and this will add risk to the stock as he is so important to the Nvidia story and strategy globally," said Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives & Co.
"This is a black eye moment for Jensen and will spark multiple congressional inquiries at a minimum and will create an overhang on the stock," Ives said, adding that the news would also increase major scrutiny about selling chips to China.
Addressing his colleagues, board, partners and shareholders, Huang said: "My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility. I am fully committed to Nvidia and will work to earn back your confidence."
Top Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have already called on Huang to brief Congress this month about the New York Times report.
The report raises "significant national security concerns regarding (China's) access to sensitive US technology and information", the lawmakers said in a letter dated November 4.
"It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk," they added.
US export controls since 2022 have sought to restrict China's access to advanced Nvidia chips and the equipment needed to make them.
Speaking to CNA's Asia First, former US intelligence official Nicholas Eftimiades said the alleged operation could have been aimed at obtaining more than just Nvidia’s technology.
“Huang had access to the White House,” said Eftimiades, who is now an assistant teaching professor at Penn State University’s Homeland Security Program.
“It's more than just access to the technology. It's access to senior people that he knows.”
He added that Chinese intelligence could also have been interested in the US administration’s thinking on Nvidia technology and how Beijing might then “change that focus and direction”.
He expects Singapore-based Megaspeed and its Malaysian subsidiary Speedmatrix, which was reportedly set up to receive shipments of advanced chips, to face increased scrutiny following the allegations.
“I have no doubt that the US will be asking the Malaysian government (and) the Singaporean government to look at this infrastructure very, very carefully, as they have already been doing,” he said.
Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993, said that he was "committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security".
Nvidia had earlier said that Huang talks with "thousands of customer executives every year", and that cloud customers in Asia receive ordinary business information, not sensitive Nvidia trade secrets or anything tied to US national security.
