Nvidia Launches Board Inquiry After CEO Jensen Huang Acknowledges Relationship With Suspected Chinese Spy

Nvidia announced that its board has started an independent review following reports regarding chief executive Jensen Huang's relationship with an executive tied to Chinese intelligence. In a memo to staff, Huang admitted to an extramarital relationship, offered an apology to his family and colleagues, and promised full cooperation with the inquiry. The company stated it has no reason to believe national security or trade secrets were compromised, while Huang emphasized his intent to continue leading the semiconductor designer.

The disclosure prompted a drop of more than 5% in Nvidia's shares during premarket trading. Intelligence authorities identified Alice Huang, an executive at cloud infrastructure firm MegaSpeed, as having passed information to Beijing. MegaSpeed had previously faced allegations involving the routing of Nvidia graphics processors to Chinese entities despite existing export curbs. While Nvidia faced pressure, broader semiconductor peers such as AMD and Broadcom traded higher before the bell.