Nvidia Board Investigates Jensen Huang After Report He Was Target of Chinese Spy Effort

Nvidia's board of directors has opened an independent investigation following reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, the company said on Sunday.

A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will oversee the inquiry. "While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board's inquiry will examine all available information," it said, adding that it "has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team."

The investigation follows a Financial Times report on Saturday that a U.S. government memo, written earlier this year based on intelligence information, said the Nvidia CEO had been romantically involved with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Nvidia customer Megaspeed, citing people familiar with the memo. U.S. intelligence believes she was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security, the FT reported. Nvidia declined to comment to the newspaper on the memo. Huang's email to staff, sent on Sunday, did not name the person with whom he had an affair.

Lawmakers from both parties are seeking answers. Republican leaders have asked Huang to appear privately before the House China, foreign affairs and intelligence committees, according to the FT, while Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), who will chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from January, pledged in a tweet that "Congress will investigate and get answers."

The FT's report built on a New York Times investigation last month, which said U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded that Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese citizen, was a Chinese intelligence asset, and that surveillance of her had revealed a close relationship with Jensen Huang. President Donald Trump was briefed on the findings roughly a year ago and chose not to act on them, according to the Times.

U.S. officials suspected Megaspeed of helping Chinese companies get around restrictions on advanced AI chips, and the Commerce Department's investigation into the company has been handed to the Justice Department, the Times reported. Megaspeed's sister company in Malaysia bought at least $4.8 billion worth of AI equipment containing Nvidia chips between June 2024 and February 2026, according to trade records cited by the newspaper.

Nvidia told the Times that Huang's interactions with Ms. Huang were "not unusual or unexpected," and that customers like Megaspeed receive "ordinary business information." Megaspeed said it had retained outside counsel to conduct an internal investigation, Ms. Huang did not respond to the newspaper's requests for comment, and China's embassy in Washington dismissed the allegations as "groundless smears and slanders."

Huang's email to staff

In an email to employees on Sunday, Huang apologized to his family and colleagues. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did," he wrote, according to a copy published by CNBC.

"Regarding the national security concerns raised in news reports, NVIDIA's Board of Directors has initiated an independent investigation. I support the investigation and will cooperate fully," Huang wrote. "I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security." He asked for privacy for his family.

"Today's news will not slow NVIDIA. Jensen is committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption," the company told CNBC.