Nvidia’s board of directors said Sunday it is opening an independent investigation after news reports that co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.
The New York Times first reported that a U.S. intelligence memo assessed that Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen and executive at Singapore-based cloud firm Megaspeed, had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security and developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang. CNBC, TechCrunch and The Verge carried those accounts. Megaspeed is an Nvidia customer that U.S. officials have suspected of helping China circumvent AI chip export limits, outlets reported. The cited reports do not say Alice Huang is related to Jensen Huang.
In a Nov. 8 staff email obtained by CNBC, Jensen Huang apologized for an affair, writing that he was “unfaithful” to his wife and that there was “no excuse.” He did not name the other person. He said the board had started an independent investigation into the national security concerns in news reports and that he would “cooperate fully.” Nvidia told CNBC he is committed to continuing as CEO without interruption.
The board said a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will oversee the inquiry. “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 said. The board said it has confidence in Jensen Huang and that he supports the review.
Nvidia had previously said Huang’s interactions with Alice Huang were consistent with ordinary customer meetings and that regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information, not sensitive trade secrets or national-security information.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar and House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford asked Huang in a Nov. 4 letter for a joint closed-door briefing on Nov. 18 on his interactions with Alice Huang and Nvidia’s anti-espionage security protocols. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Congress will investigate. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., called for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Huang to testify, CNBC reported. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday called the “so-called Chinese spy narrative” unsubstantiated, Reuters reported via CNBC. Alice Huang and Megaspeed did not immediately respond to earlier CNBC requests for comment.
The dispute sits in the same Nvidia-China chip export fight AI Tech Daily covered around H200 inventory in Hong Kong.
Sources
- CNBC: Nvidia investigates CEO Jensen Huang relationship with alleged Chinese spy, by Kif Leswing and Kamaron McNair (November 8, 2026)
- CNBC: Read Huang email to staff and Nvidia board statement, by Terri Cullen (November 8, 2026)
- CNBC: Jensen Huang faces bipartisan congressional scrutiny over reported China spy link, by Kamaron McNair (November 8, 2026)
- CNBC: Nvidia Huang asked to brief Congress on Chinese spy report, by Kevin Breuninger (November 5, 2026)
- CNBC: Scrutiny turns to Huang relationship with alleged Chinese spy, includes China Foreign Ministry denial via Reuters, by April Roach (November 9, 2026)
- TechCrunch: Nvidia will investigate CEO Jensen Huang relationship with possible Chinese spy, by Anthony Ha (November 8, 2026)
- The Verge: Nvidia is investigating Jensen Huang relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, by Terrence OBrien (November 8, 2026)
- House Foreign Affairs Committee: Chairmen Mast, Moolenaar, and Crawford request Jensen Huang brief Congress (November 5, 2026)
- AI Tech Daily: About 600,000 Nvidia H200 chips pile up in Hong Kong as China withholds import approval (November 6, 2026)