Nvidia's board opens a probe after reports China targeted Jensen Huang

Nvidia's board of directors said Sunday (Nov. 8) it is opening an independent investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang "has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort," following reports that U.S. intelligence believes a Chinese executive close to him was working for Beijing.

A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will run the review, according to the board's statement. The board said it "has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised," but that the inquiry "will examine all available information."

Nvidia's newsroom account shared the statement on X at 3:02 p.m. ET.

Later on Sunday, Nvidia posted a memo from Huang to employees. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did," Huang wrote. "Regarding the national security concerns raised in news reports, NVIDIA's Board of Directors has initiated an independent investigation. I support the investigation and will cooperate fully."

The memo doesn't name the woman involved. CNBC and Axios reported that it acknowledges his relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed. The two are not related.

What the board hasn't said: who sits on the committee, which law firm is advising it, or when it expects to report. It said only that it "will provide further updates as appropriate."

What the reports say

The New York Times first reported on Oct. 29 that U.S. intelligence agencies viewed Huang as the target of a Chinese intelligence operation and had kept Alice Huang under electronic surveillance for at least a year, according to the Times' reporting as republished by The Business Times.

On Friday (Nov. 6), the Times reported that a memo circulated among senior Trump administration officials last spring said China's Ministry of State Security had recruited her. According to the people briefed on the intelligence, the goal was to learn about U.S. AI chips and potentially influence Nvidia to push for its most advanced chips to be sold in China.

The Financial Times then reported that the same memo described a romantic relationship between the two, TechCrunch noted. Megaspeed buys Nvidia chips and rents out computing power, and U.S. officials have suspected it of helping China get around AI chip export limits, according to CNBC.

None of the intelligence claims has been tested in public. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington called the Times reporting "unsubstantiated" and "nothing but smears against China."

Nvidia's defense, and Congress

Before Sunday, Nvidia had played down the contact. Spokesperson John Rizzo told the Times that Huang's meetings with Alice Huang were consistent with those he has with any customer, and that Nvidia does not share classified information with customers.

On Sunday, Rizzo said in a statement to CNBC: "Today's news will not slow NVIDIA. Jensen is committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption."

Pressure from Washington is building. The Republican chairs of three House committees have asked Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18, writing that recent reports "raise significant national security concerns," according to CNBC.

Democrats, including Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, have called for congressional investigations of their own.

The stakes go beyond one executive. Huang has been one of the loudest voices in Washington for loosening limits on AI chip sales to China, arguing that keeping American hardware there protects U.S. competitiveness, as Axios noted.

U.S.-China tech policy has been a recurring flashpoint for AI companies this year, including the federal DeepSeek restrictions we covered in October.

The timing is awkward for Nvidia. The company reports third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, Nov. 17, with a call at 5 p.m. ET, one day before the briefing lawmakers have requested. Nvidia declined to tell the Times whether Huang will attend.