Nvidia's board has opened an independent investigation into whether founder and CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, after Huang told staff he had been unfaithful to his wife.
The board announced the probe in a statement on November 8th, saying a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee it. "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," the statement read. It added that Huang "fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it," and that the board "has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team."
Huang addressed the matter in an email to employees the same day, titled 'A message to our company'. "I owe my family and all of you an apology. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry," he wrote. Turning to the national security concerns raised in news reports, he said: "I support the investigation and will cooperate fully. I love our country and our company." He also asked for privacy for his family, writing that it "bears no responsibility for my choices."
Who is Alice Huang?
According to Reuters, the probe follows a New York Times report last month that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang (no relation), a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed whom US authorities concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset. Megaspeed is a cloud computing firm and an Nvidia customer, and the US has been investigating it over suspicions that it helped Beijing gain access to advanced Nvidia AI chips barred from shipment to China. Bloomberg described Alice Huang as a former television journalist who became a chip broker renting advanced hardware to top Chinese firms.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the claims in the report. Alice Huang did not respond to the New York Times when it first reported the relationship, and Megaspeed did not immediately respond to Reuters on Monday. China's Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations, with spokesperson Guo Jiakun calling the "so-called Chinese spy narrative" a "groundless accusation, slander, and a smear."
Nvidia shares slide
Nvidia shares fell on Monday as the news reached the markets. Reuters reported the stock was down about 6% after paring an earlier 8% slide, a drop that would wipe more than $280bn off the company's value from its last close.
Nvidia, best known to gamers for its GeForce graphics cards, said in a statement shared with CNBC that "today's news will not slow NVIDIA" and that Huang "is committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption." Huang has been a regular face at gaming events this year, from a T1 internet cafe visit in Seoul where he gifted Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok a signed RTX 5090 to a SEGA partnership announcement in Akihabara.
