Jensen Huang, the 63-year-old CEO of Nvidia, has admitted to an extramarital affair following reports in the US media about his possible romance with a woman whom US intelligence agencies suspect of working for Chinese intelligence. The woman in question is Alice Huang, the former head of the Singapore-based company Megaspeed, who, according to journalists, may have been gathering information on cutting-edge US artificial intelligence chips and influencing decisions regarding their export to China. Nvidia’s board of directors has announced an independent investigation, although the company currently has no reason to believe that its technological secrets or US national security have been compromised.
- Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has admitted to having an extramarital affair and apologised to his family.
- US intelligence suspects his alleged partner of having links to the Chinese secret services.
- The person in question is Alice Huang, the former head of the Singapore-based company Megaspeed.
- Nvidia’s Board of Directors has launched an independent investigation into possible foreign interference.
Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair and apologised
Following reports in the American media, the founder Nvidia He addressed the company’s staff in a personal letter, in which he admitted to being unfaithful to his wife and took responsibility for his actions.
«I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions caused her and our children pain. There is no excuse for this,» Huang wrote in a statement obtained by American journalists.
The Nvidia chief also apologised to his colleagues and shareholders, acknowledging that his behaviour had not been in keeping with the responsibilities entrusted to him as the head of one of the world’s largest technology companies.
In the letter itself, Huang did not name the woman with whom he had been in a relationship. At the same time, the Financial Times and The New York Times link the story to Alice Huang — the former head of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company operating in the artificial intelligence infrastructure market.
US intelligence suspected an operation by the Chinese secret services
According to reports in American media, Alice Huang may have been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to obtain information about American artificial intelligence technology.
The likely aim of the operation was not only to gather information on semiconductor developments, but also to attempt to influence Nvidia’s management’s stance on supplying advanced chips to Chinese companies.
Megaspeed is a purchaser of Nvidia equipment and has previously come under scrutiny from US authorities over suspicions that it was facilitating China’s access to technologies whose export is restricted by Washington.
According to media reports, US officials had previously informed the administration Donald Trump regarding the potential risks associated with the Nvidia CEO’s contacts.
At the same time, there is currently no public evidence to suggest that Jensen Huang passed on classified information to Chinese intelligence. The Chinese side has also denied allegations of involvement in the espionage operation.
Nvidia has launched an independent investigation
On 8 November, Nvidia’s Board of Directors announced the launch of an internal investigation into reports of possible foreign intelligence influence on the chief executive.
The review will be carried out by independent board members with the assistance of external legal advisers. The company intends to determine whether there were any risks to corporate information, technological developments and US national security interests.
Nvidia emphasised that it currently has no reason to believe that the company’s trade secrets or US national security have been compromised.
Huang has agreed to cooperate with the investigators and will continue to carry out his duties as chief executive. The company has stated that the investigation will not lead to any immediate changes to its management.
The US Congress is demanding an explanation from the head of Nvidia
The situation has caught the attention of US lawmakers, as Nvidia plays a key role in the global production of computing equipment for artificial intelligence.
The company’s cutting-edge graphics processing units are used for training large AI models, powering data centres and high-performance computing. This is precisely why the export of the most powerful chips to China remains subject to US technology restrictions.
The chairs of three House of Representatives committees invited Jensen Huang to a closed-door briefing to seek clarification regarding his contacts with Alice Huang and the potential risks to US technology.
Lawmakers have set 11 November as the deadline for agreeing on a date for the meeting. Nvidia’s investigation is ongoing, and the company has not yet announced when it will publish its findings.
