Nvidia CEO's Admitted Affair With Alleged Chinese Spy Puts Huang and the AI Chip Giant Under Scrutiny

On Sunday, Nvidia's board put out a statement that began with national security and only then turned to its chief executive. Jensen Huang, the head of a company worth about $5 trillion (€4.47 trillion), had admitted to an affair with a woman the US government believes was working as a spy for China. The board said it would open an inquiry led by independent directors and an outside law firm.

The Financial Times first reported the relationship. The woman, identified as Alice H., is an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based Nvidia customer that has been suspected of trying to get advanced Nvidia chips into China around US export controls. According to the newspaper, the US government and intelligence community believe she was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security. US officials drafted a memo on the allegations shortly before President Donald Trump went to Beijing in May for a summit with Xi Jinping. US intelligence officials have not commented publicly. Huang has apologized.

Nvidia's statement said Huang "has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort." It also said the board "has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised," while promising that the inquiry would examine all available information. The company's shares fell in early trading on Monday.

Trump, who has a close relationship with Huang, came to his defense. "He's an honorable guy," the president said, adding that he had not spoken to Huang about it and knew only that he is a fine person. "But you never know what is going on. I hope everything's fine."

The affair lands on top of an existing quarrel. Huang has repeatedly pressed Trump to loosen limits on selling Nvidia chips to China. A 2025 export control deal heavily curbed sales, but Trump later allowed older H200 chips to be exported in return for the US government taking a cut. That arrangement has bogged down in Washington's strict export-licence reviews, and Beijing has brought in its own import controls despite strong demand from Chinese companies. China still lacks access to the most advanced AI chips and has struggled to build alternatives.

Huang argues that Chinese reliance on Nvidia keeps rivals such as Huawei from catching up. Many US intelligence officials reject that reasoning. They fear unrestricted access to top Nvidia chips would strengthen China's AI sector, close the gap with leading US models and feed into military uses. Washington's core worry about the affair is that Beijing may have obtained trade secrets or other key information on how Nvidia makes its most advanced chips.

Analysts differ on the damage. Tim Culpan, an Asia tech reporter who has covered Huang for years, told DW that the company will still make great chips and sell them to millions of customers. But he said Huang's personal standing is badly hurt: his opinion will carry far less weight, and that will eventually reach Nvidia's corporate interests, though not immediately. Richard Windsor of Radio Free Mobile called the problem acute because Huang is hands-on, made the key decisions behind Nvidia's success, and has no obvious successor. He expects the market to show how dependent it thinks the company is on its founder. Still, he believes Huang will survive what he called a severe test, and says he is far from convinced Chinese AI has materially benefited from Nvidia technology or illicit chip imports.

The timing is awkward. Nvidia became the first $5 trillion company in October 2025, but doubts about the sustainability of the $9 trillion AI capital-spending boom have driven a sell-off in related stocks in recent weeks. Democratic wins in the US midterms have added to the unease, given voter opposition to data center construction. What to watch next is the board inquiry's findings, and whether US officials say anything publicly.