Tech giant NVIDIA investigates CEO Jensen Huang’s romantic affair with suspected Chinese spy

Nvidia, the multibillion-dollar company championing the AI revolution, has launched a probe into co-founder Jensen Huang’s romantic relationship with Alice Huang, a business executive U.S. officials said was gathering intelligence for Beijing, the company said Sunday.

Mr Huang, who has been married for about 40 years, admitted he cheated on his wife with the Chinese citizen in an apology message to the company staff on Sunday.

“I was unfaithful to my wife,” he said. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”

Although Nvidia’s Huang and Ms Huang share the same surname, they are not related.

The Nvidia board said there was no cause to believe Mr Huang compromised national security or shared company secrets with his ex-girlfriend.

“While the board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board’s enquiry will examine all available information,” the company said.

Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo said Mr Huang will not step down in his role as chief executive pending the outcome of the investigation, which will be overseen by a panel of independent board members.

Mr Huang, 63, will not be part of the selection process for the members of the panel, the company said.

“Today’s news will not slow Nvidia,” Mr Rizzo said. “Jensen is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as C.E.O. without interruption.”

President Donald Trump agreed that Mr Huang should remain the chief executive, defending him as “an honourable guy.”

“I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what’s going on,” Mr Trump told journalists who sought his opinion on the matter.

The U.S. president added: “I think he’s an honourable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to hear it. No, you can’t do that with people. He has done an amazing job for our country.”

Ms Huang was a top executive at MegaSpeed, a South Asian firm that buys chips used in powering data centres.

The company has purchased $4.6 billion worth of chips from Nvidia since June 2024.

As the U.S. and China compete for superiority in the AI revolution, Washington banned sales of sensitive data chips to Beijing.

The U.S. government investigated and surveilled Ms Huang to determine whether she was helping China evade U.S. restrictions and move Nvidia chips to China through her relationship with Mr Huang.