Nvidia probes CEO affair

Jensen Huang leads Nvidia, a company worth over $4 trillion that sits at the center of the United States' artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company announced on Sunday that it is investigating Huang's relationship with Alice Huang. The two are not related. Alice Huang serves as an executive at Megaspeed, an AI compute firm.

US intelligence officials had identified Alice Huang as an agent for China’s Ministry of State Security. Reports indicate that US agencies had known about the couple's connection for roughly a year before public disclosures emerged in October.

Alice Huang worked as a television reporter before joining Megaspeed. The firm purchased $4.8 billion in Nvidia chips. This buying spree began around 2024, the same period when photos surfaced of her and Jensen Huang together in a bar in Taipei.

President Donald Trump addressed the situation at a White House press briefing on Monday. The New York Times reported that Trump received a briefing on the relationship approximately one year ago. He took no immediate action on the intelligence.

The Times also reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio helped draft a memo for Trump officials regarding the relationship. This occurred before Trump's trip to China in May. Trump stated at the briefing that he was aware of the relationship before it became public knowledge.

Nvidia and Huang have stated that they have no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. However, the board of directors launched the formal investigation after Huang sent a memo to employees acknowledging the affair.

Huang described the relationship as romantic in the internal memo. US officials believe Alice Huang passed information directly to Beijing. China has denied allegations that its Ministry of State Security recruited her.

Nvidia has invested roughly $99 billion in equity across various AI labs and infrastructure companies. The company's chips power much of the advanced technology being built in the US. Demand for these processors has consistently outpaced supply for several years.

Huang has become a close associate of President Trump. This proximity adds weight to the concerns raised by the investigation. The board is currently reviewing the extent of the relationship and its potential impact on the company's operations.

The investigation is ongoing. Nvidia has not released further details on the scope of the inquiry. The company continues to operate its normal business functions while the board reviews the findings.