The Head Of Nvidia Had An Affair With A Chinese Spy
- 9.11.2026, 9:46
The company has launched an investigation.
Nvidia's board of directors has launched an independent investigation into the company's CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang. The investigation was prompted by his admission of an extramarital affair with a woman whom U.S. intelligence agencies believe to be a Chinese intelligence agent. According to The New York Times, U.S. authorities had been monitoring her for over a year and concluded that she was passing information directly to Beijing.
Huang, 63, admitted to having a relationship with Alice Huang, also known as Huang Lei. She heads the Singapore-based company Megaspeed, one of Nvidia’s largest chip buyers in Southeast Asia. In a message to employees, he wrote: “I cheated on my wife. My actions have caused pain to her and our children. There is no excuse for this. I deeply regret it.”
The board of directors stated that it currently has no information regarding the leak of trade secrets or harm to U.S. national security. Independent lawyers will be brought in to conduct the investigation, and Huang will not be involved in their selection. He himself has agreed to cooperate with the investigation and remains in his position.
How intelligence agencies tracked down Huang
U.S. authorities began monitoring Alice Huang over a year ago as part of an investigation into Megaspeed. The U.S. Department of Commerce suspected the company of facilitating the shipment of advanced Nvidia chips to China in circumvention of export restrictions. During the surveillance, it was discovered that she was in contact with a U.S. citizen, who turned out to be the head of Nvidia. Officials who reviewed the intelligence reports deemed their relationship to be romantic.
In the spring of 2026, at the initiative of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a top-secret memorandum was drafted. It stated that Alice Huang had been recruited by the Chinese Ministry of State Security specifically to establish a relationship with the head of Nvidia. The document was circulated to U.S. officials shortly before Donald Trump’s trip to China.
At first, Nvidia and Huang himself denied that the relationship was anything more than a business relationship. As recently as last month, he told Bloomberg in an interview that their contacts were exclusively about Megaspeed. However, according to the NYT, intelligence reports contradicted those statements.
Megaspeed and Billions for Chips
Megaspeed was founded in 2023 following the spin-off of the Singapore-based division of a Chinese gaming company, shortly after the U.S. imposed sweeping restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips to China. Alice Huang was initially listed as managing director and later began referring to herself as CEO. Since June 2024, the company has purchased more than $4.8 billion worth of chips from Nvidia. The collaboration continued even after news of the Department of Commerce’s investigation broke.
NYT reporters also examined Alice Huang’s professional background. She previously worked at several major Chinese banks before moving to a Shanghai-based investment fund linked to technology companies and investors in the data center sector. The fund’s network of companies participated in the construction of a large data center near Shanghai that serves Tencent. In addition, through investments in a subsidiary of the China Electronics Technology Group—one of the largest manufacturers of military equipment in China—she had financial ties to the Chinese military-industrial complex.
Meetings in Taipei
According to the publication, Huang and Alice Huang have repeatedly attended events and meetings with executives from technology companies together. In June 2024, after an exhibition in Taipei, they drank whiskey at a bar with other representatives of the AI industry, and a year later, they had dinner at a Taipei restaurant in the company of top executives. Taiwanese media captured Alice Huang kissing the Nvidia CEO on the cheek, as well as standing behind him while he spoke with reporters.
Following reports of surveillance, the U.S. Congress took an interest in the matter. Lawmakers are demanding explanations from Huang, likely under oath. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren stated that he and the board of directors are obligated to answer questions about their ties to the alleged Chinese intelligence operative. Republican Michael McCaul, vice chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called the incident “a classic tactic from the Chinese Communist Party’s playbook” and called for an immediate suspension of shipments of advanced American chips to China until the circumstances are clarified.
Trump’s and Nvidia’s Position
Trump publicly defended Huang. On Sunday evening, he told reporters that he was still willing to take the Nvidia CEO with him on his upcoming trip to China. “I haven’t heard that he did anything wrong. He dealt with one person, but, you know, everyone else does that too,” the president said. According to him, he hasn’t discussed this issue with Huang and doesn’t regret not taking any action when, about a year ago, intelligence agencies informed him that Alice Huang was being monitored. “I think he’s a decent person. I think he probably has some explanation. We need to hear him out,” Trump added. When asked whether Huang should remain CEO, the president answered in the affirmative.
The board of directors also expressed its confidence in Huang. Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo stated that the investigation would not affect the company’s operations and that its CEO would continue to perform his duties without interruption.
Nvidia is one of the world’s most valuable companies and a key provider of computing power for the development of artificial intelligence. About 60 executives report directly to Huang, making his role in managing the company central. Nvidia’s close ties to the Trump administration and its importance to the U.S. technology industry make any potential contacts with Chinese intelligence a particularly sensitive issue for Washington.