Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation into CEO Jensen Huang on Sunday, November 8, hours after the chipmaker’s chief admitted to an affair with a woman accused of working for Chinese intelligence. The Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang investigation lands at the worst possible moment for the world’s most valuable company: its chips sit at the center of the AI boom, its sales to China are already under a microscope in Washington, and its stock just lost $450 billion in market value in a single trading day last week.
Nvidia said the probe will be run by a committee of independent directors with outside counsel. In the same statement, the board said it has “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised,” but added that its inquiry “will examine all available information.” Huang will keep running the company while the investigation goes on, and the board said it continues to have “confidence in Jensen and his leadership team.”
Huang owned up to the affair in an email to Nvidia staff on Sunday. “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 reports of the message. He did not name the woman in the email.
Who Alice Huang is, and why Congress cares
The woman at the center of the case is Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that buys Nvidia AI chips. The New York Times reported on October 29 that US authorities were investigating her, and that she had sought to build close ties with Jensen Huang in an effort to learn about Nvidia’s technology. The two are not related.
A US intelligence memo circulated earlier this year claimed Alice Huang had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to spy on Nvidia, according to reporting by TechCrunch. The Chinese Embassy in Washington has denied any spying allegations in the case.
Megaspeed is not some small-time buyer. The Times reported that the company had become one of Nvidia’s largest customers, purchasing about $4.8 billion in equipment from the US firm. It is also the subject of a US Commerce Department investigation into whether it helped move advanced AI chips to China in violation of export controls. For years, Washington has restricted sales of Nvidia’s most powerful chips to China, worried that Beijing could use them to gain an edge in AI and military technology.
That commercial link is what turns a personal scandal into a national-security story. If a top Nvidia customer was also a channel for getting restricted chips to China, lawmakers want to know what the company knew and when it knew it.
Congress wants answers on November 18
The fallout in Washington was fast and bipartisan. 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,” and added that “NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and NVIDIA’s board owe Congress answers.”
Republican House leaders went further. Representatives John Moolenaar, Brian Mast and Rick Crawford called on Huang to appear and testify before Congress on November 18. “It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk,” the three said in a joint statement.
The probe also reaches into the White House. Huang has worked closely with President Donald Trump since Trump returned to office in 2025, and in August of that year the administration announced it would take a 15 percent cut of certain Nvidia chip sales to China. Asked by reporters on Sunday whether Huang would accompany him to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China, Trump was noncommittal but defended him. “I haven’t heard he’s done anything wrong,” Trump said from the tarmac in West Palm Beach, Florida. “I think he’s an honourable guy.”
A brutal week for Nvidia’s stock
The investigation caps a rough stretch for Nvidia investors. The company lost $450 billion in market value in a single trading day last week, after Republicans lost ground in the midterm elections on Tuesday and AI-related stocks slid. Shares bounced back on Friday, regaining 4 percent of the losses, but the selloff showed how quickly sentiment can turn on the AI trade.
None of that changes Nvidia’s position in the market. Its chips and software power the large language models built by OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google, and demand has pushed the company’s valuation into the trillions. That’s exactly why Washington is paying attention: the same hardware that trains chatbots also trains military systems, and the US has spent years trying to keep the most advanced versions out of China’s hands.
The board’s statement was careful to say the probe is about a reported foreign intelligence effort targeting Huang, not about any confirmed leak. No one has alleged that Nvidia’s chip designs or trade secrets actually reached Beijing. But the board also left itself room to act, saying the inquiry will look at everything available to it.
What this means for Nvidia and the chip war
For now, the investigation is a credibility test as much as a fact-finding exercise. Nvidia has to show regulators and lawmakers that it can police its own house, and that its biggest customers aren’t also its biggest export-control risk. A clean result would let the company get back to selling chips. A messy one could bring new restrictions, new hearings, and new questions about who buys Nvidia hardware and where it ends up.
Huang’s testimony on November 18 is the next date that matters. Congress will want specifics: what he knew about Megaspeed, when he knew it, and whether anything about Nvidia’s technology crossed a line. His answers will shape not just his own future at the company, but the next round of the US-China fight over AI chips.
Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera, Free Malaysia Today, The New York Times, TechCrunch
Frequently asked questions
Why is Nvidia investigating CEO Jensen Huang?
Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation after reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort involving a woman accused of working for Chinese intelligence. Huang admitted to an extramarital relationship with her in an email to staff on November 8.
Who is Alice Huang and what is Megaspeed?
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is a former executive of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that buys Nvidia AI chips. The New York Times reported on October 29 that she sought close ties with Jensen Huang to learn about Nvidia’s technology, and Megaspeed is under a US Commerce Department investigation over alleged chip smuggling to China.
Is Jensen Huang still running Nvidia during the probe?
Yes. Nvidia’s board said it continues to have confidence in Huang and his leadership team, and he will keep leading the company while the committee of independent directors carries out its inquiry.
When does Jensen Huang testify before Congress?
House Republican leaders have called on Huang to appear before Congress on November 18 to answer questions about the affair and whether US national security was put at risk.