The president of "NVIDIA" admits to an affair...and an investigation into suspicions of espionage for China

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair, while his company announced that it would conduct an investigation into allegations that he was targeted as part of “foreign intelligence efforts” behind China.

The two separate announcements come amid growing concerns about Huang's close relationship with Alice Huang, CEO of the Singapore-based technology company Megaspeed. Several American media outlets reported that American officials suspect that Alice Huang, who is not related to him, leaked intelligence information to China and helped smuggle advanced artificial intelligence chips into the country.

This issue may cast a shadow over confidence in the company, which ranks second in the world in terms of market value, and is considered one of the most prominent interfaces of the artificial intelligence boom, at a time when the United States and China are racing to achieve technological superiority over each other.

In a letter he addressed to Nvidia employees, Huang said that he was unfaithful to his wife, and that he had harmed her and his children, without revealing the identity of the other party in the relationship.

“I take full responsibility for what I did and the harm I caused, and I accept the resulting criticism,” Huang, 63, said, adding that he supports Nvidia’s investigation. He continued: “I am committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting American national security.”

Meanwhile, the company said in a press release on Sunday that a committee including independent members of the board of directors and legal advisors from outside the company will supervise the investigation.

“The Board of Directors places America’s national and economic security as its top priorities, as it is critical to the interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders,” the statement said. He added that the council "has no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia secrets have been compromised."

In a note, Dan Ives, a partner and senior managing director at investment bank Yorkville & Ives, described the news as a “huge blow to Jensen,” expecting it to lead to increased scrutiny of chip sales to China, sales that Huang had previously lobbied to allow.

Ives added that the investigation will cast a shadow on Nvidia's stock price, with investors questioning whether Huang will continue to lead the company he helped found.

An Nvidia spokesperson told CNN: “Today’s news will not slow down Nvidia. Jensen is committed to continuing to lead the company as CEO without interruption.”

Historically, corporate boards tend to fire CEOs who are exposed to extramarital affairs within days, said Jacob Ward, a technology journalist and CNN contributor.

For Nvidia, which plays a pivotal role in the development of artificial intelligence, global growth, and the US stock market, any fundamental questions about its future will have greater economic and geopolitical repercussions. Ward added that another unusual factor was the lack of a clear successor to Hwang at the company.

“It's a fundamental pillar of the American economy, if not the global economy right now,” Ward said. “And this guy, who is known to be a central figure in running all of these things, to suddenly find himself in this position, especially if he's been caught not telling the truth about it, is a very significant development.”

Connection to China

Huang's ties to Alice Huang and Megaspeed, which buys chips from Nvidia, have come under intense scrutiny, amid concerns that the company is a potential conduit for US semiconductors to reach Chinese buyers, despite export controls on advanced technologies.

The Financial Times previously reported that US intelligence services believe that the two have a romantic relationship.

NVIDIA said in a previous statement that Jensen Huang's meetings "are not unusual or unexpected. Meeting with customers is part of the CEO's duties, as Jensen speaks with thousands of customer executives every year."

The company added that any concerns about the chips being illegally transferred to other parties "were refuted last year."

Huang had joked in a previous interview that he wooed his wife, Lori Huang, whom he met at university when he was 17 and she was 19, by offering to help her with her schoolwork, and vowed to become a CEO before he turned 30. The two married in 1985, and have two children.

In 1993, Huang co-founded Nvidia, whose market value exceeded $4 trillion, with a significant rise in demand for the company’s computer chips, driven by the boom in artificial intelligence.

Since then, Huang has become the face of the company and a prominent figure in the booming artificial intelligence sector. Huang joined US President Donald Trump, along with a group of senior CEOs, during a visit to Beijing earlier this year, to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"NVIDIA and Jensen are closely linked. Many will say that NVIDIA without Jensen would not be what it is," George Chen, partner and head of the digital practice at The Asia Group, wrote in a note on Monday. He added: "I do not believe that Huang's sudden resignation tomorrow will be in the interest of NVIDIA's shareholders and partners in the sector."

Reuters reported earlier this year that the US government allowed ten Chinese companies to purchase the second most powerful category of artificial intelligence chips produced by NVIDIA, but it is not clear how many chips were actually sold after the approval was issued.

On Sunday, Trump told reporters that he had not spoken with Huang since Nvidia announced the opening of the investigation, but he described him as a "good person" and praised his contributions to serving the country.

When asked if he wished he had taken action when he was made aware of the intelligence related to the spying allegations last year, Trump replied: "No, I don't think so. I think he's a man of integrity, and he's probably justified in his position."

On Thursday, Republican chairs of three influential committees in the US House of Representatives, namely the Foreign Affairs, Chinese Communist Party, and Intelligence Committees, stated in a press statement that they had sent a letter to Huang requesting that he appear before their committees to answer questions related to his relationship with Megaspeed, and the security protocols that the company follows to protect against foreign espionage.

“Recent reports raise significant national security concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s access to sensitive U.S. technology and information,” the committee chairs wrote in their letter. They added: "The issue of the People's Republic of China's penetration and access to the latest American technologies lies at the heart of the oversight and investigative work undertaken by our three committees during the current Congress session."

Huang's admission of having an extramarital relationship became one of the most popular topics on social media in China on Monday, with the number of views exceeding 40 million on the Weibo platform, similar to the X platform, formerly Twitter.

In contrast, accusations of Alice Huang working as a spy for China have been largely absent from heavily censored online discussions, as well as from Chinese official media reports.