Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation Sunday into reports that Chinese intelligence targeted its CEO, Jensen Huang. The announcement followed a disclosure from Huang himself. He told directors he’d had an intimate relationship with Alice Huang, a chip buyer and business executive U.S. intelligence officials assessed was working for Beijing.
My colleague Joe Cunningham covered the intelligence assessment Saturday. A classified memo drafted under Secretary of State Marco Rubio and circulated among senior Trump administration officials before the president’s China trip described an effort by China’s Ministry of State Security to recruit Alice Huang to collect intelligence on Nvidia’s CEO. Beijing reportedly wanted to know more about American AI chips. It also saw a possible way to get Nvidia to press for wider access to its most advanced chips in China.
Huang emailed Nvidia employees Sunday, apologizing to his family and the people he works with. He told them he’d cooperate with the board’s investigation. He was blunt about the affair.
"I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did."
Bloomberg’s Annmarie Hordern posted the portion of the email where Huang addresses his family and Nvidia employees.
Jensen Huang’s email to Nvidia employees https://t.co/NesU4iXq8L
— Annmarie Hordern (@annmarie) November 8, 2026
A committee of independent directors will oversee the investigation with help from outside counsel. The board says it still has confidence in Huang and his leadership team.
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.
President Trump defended Huang Sunday, saying “He dealt with somebody, but you know, so does everybody else,” and that he would “certainly take him” on his upcoming Asia trip.
Huang had an affair with an executive at a company Nvidia did business with. Alice Huang held a senior job at Megaspeed International, which worked with Nvidia to build data centers in Asia. According to published reporting, U.S. officials concluded last year that she was sharing information with the Chinese government. Getting involved with her was lousy judgment on its own.
Nvidia’s line has been that Huang’s dealings with Alice Huang were “not unusual or unexpected.” A spokesman said regional cloud customers got ordinary business information. The company also said it had investigated claims that Megaspeed sent restricted chips to China and found them unfounded. Megaspeed denied wrongdoing. Officials who saw the intelligence had a different account. They were sure the relationship was romantic, and Huang has now acknowledged the affair.
One Megaspeed affiliate in Malaysia spent at least $4.8 billion on advanced AI equipment containing Nvidia technology. That’s what trade records show for June 2024 through February 2026. Commerce’s investigation of Megaspeed went to the Justice Department this year. Nvidia kept doing business with Megaspeed even after reports that Commerce was looking into whether it helped smuggle restricted chips into China.
Nvidia reports earnings November 17. The three House chairmen want Huang behind closed doors the next day, and they’ve given him until November 11 to say yes or suggest another date. He should go. If all Alice Huang got was ordinary business information, he can tell the chairmen what she asked him for and what he gave her.