Nvidia's board has opened an independent investigation after reports that CEO Jensen Huang had a relationship with a Chinese businesswoman whom US intelligence officials believe was working for Beijing. Huang separately admitted in a message to staff that he was unfaithful to his wife. Nvidia shares fell more than 5% in premarket trading, erasing about $225 billion in market value, according to Google Finance data.

Huang apologizes and the board steps in

In a message titled "A message to our company," Huang wrote:

"I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."

He said he takes "full responsibility" and asked that his family be given privacy.

On the security questions, he said the board "has initiated an independent investigation" and that he will "cooperate fully." He added:

"I love our country and our company, and I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security."

The board said it acted "in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort." It also said:

"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."

A company spokesperson said Huang will keep leading the company without interruption.

What the reports allege

According to the Guardian report published in late October, US intelligence agencies had monitored Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, and concluded she was acting for the Chinese government. She is not related to Jensen Huang. The report said surveillance picked up communications between her and an American citizen who was later identified as Huang through "unmasking."

Unmasking is the process by which US officials request the name of an American who appears in intelligence collected on a foreign target. Names are normally hidden in those reports.

It is still unclear what information, if any, she passed to Beijing, how valuable it was or when she began. Alice Huang did not respond to requests for comment. She is linked to Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre firm. Megaspeed has said its current leadership takes the allegations seriously and has hired outside legal advisers for an internal investigation.

China has rejected the claims. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters, according to a BBC report.

"The allegations about Chinese spies are entirely groundless, speculative and intended to smear and malign China."

Washington's response

President Donald Trump said he had not spoken to Huang since the news broke.

"I just know he's a fine person, but you never know what's going on," he told reporters.

The earlier report said Trump was briefed last year on intelligence about Alice Huang. Asked on Sunday whether he wished he had acted on it, Trump said:

"No, I don't think so. I think he's an honourable guy."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to comment before flying to Paris for a G7 meeting, saying he could not discuss the matter or "an internal corporate matter that's going on with Nvidia." The earlier report said he oversaw a memo last spring warning the administration about Huang's relationship.

Congress has also moved. Last week, three House Republican committee leaders asked Huang to appear later this month to discuss Nvidia's "security protocols against foreign adversary espionage." Their letter said the reports "raise significant national security concerns regarding the PRC's access to sensitive US technology and information."

Why the stakes are high for Nvidia

Nvidia is worth about $4.5 trillion and supplies chips to AI developers such as OpenAI and Meta. Huang has run it for more than 30 years. He co-founded the company in 1993, and it began as a maker of graphics chips for gaming before AI demand turned it into the central supplier of AI hardware.

Its products have been at the center of the US-China technology rivalry. Washington restricted sales of the H200, Nvidia's second most advanced chip, over concerns it would give China's technology industry an edge. In January, the Trump administration said it would allow sales to Chinese customers under certain conditions. That policy shift followed Trump's December 2025 announcement that H200 exports to China would be permitted in exchange for a share of the revenue.

The board has not said who will lead the inquiry, how long it will last or whether findings will be made public.

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