Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been asked to appear at a closed-door briefing before three House committees, a day after he apologized to Nvidia employees for being unfaithful to his wife. The apology followed reports that U.S. intelligence officials believe he had a romantic relationship with a former executive of a Singapore data center company whom they suspect of working for Chinese intelligence. Nvidia’s board has opened an independent investigation.
What was reported
The New York Times first reported, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that Huang may have been the target of a Chinese intelligence asset. The Financial Times then reported that U.S. intelligence believes Huang had a romantic relationship with Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le (no relation), a former top executive at the Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. Officials suspect she was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to gather information and to help Chinese companies obtain advanced AI chips that U.S. export rules keep out of China. The Wall Street Journal reported that she was recruited because of her existing relationship with Huang.
Megaspeed has been accused of smuggling about $2 billion worth of AI chips into China through its subsidiary Speedmatrix.
The suspected intelligence operation has not been independently confirmed. Nvidia has denied any improper dealings, saying Huang meets thousands of customer executives every year and that those meetings don’t involve sensitive company information or national security secrets. Chinese officials have dismissed the espionage allegations as unfounded.
Huang’s apology and the board’s investigation
On Sunday, Huang sent a letter to Nvidia staff. “I was unfaithful to my wife,” he wrote, adding that he takes full responsibility and apologizing to his family, his colleagues, Nvidia’s board, partners and shareholders. He said he supports the board’s investigation into the national security concerns raised in the reports and will cooperate fully, and he asked for privacy for his family.
Nvidia’s board said a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will oversee the investigation. The board said it has no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia’s secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry will examine all available information. It also said it has confidence in Huang and his leadership team.
What Congress wants to know
Republican Reps. John Moolenaar, Brian Mast and Rick Crawford, who chair the House committees on China, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence, sent Huang a letter asking him to attend a joint, closed-door briefing. They want to discuss Nvidia’s security protocols against foreign espionage and his interactions with Alice Huang, saying the reports “raise significant national security concerns” about China’s access to U.S. technology.
The briefing is set for November 18, 2026, and the letter lets Huang propose another date while the current Congress is in session. It isn’t clear yet whether he will attend. According to The New York Times, Huang never received a “defensive briefing,” the warning intelligence agencies sometimes give people who may be targeted by foreign spies.
Nvidia is also tightening how its chips reach China
Separately, the Financial Times reported that Nvidia has told cloud partners around the world that at least 51% of their services must go to non-Chinese companies. The instruction reportedly applies to new deals, not existing leases, and Nvidia hasn’t confirmed or denied it. Southeast Asian providers that want to become Nvidia Cloud Partners must also use Nvidia’s fleet tracking.
Renting overseas has been one of the main ways Chinese AI labs reach Nvidia’s most powerful chips, and supply is getting tight: a B300 rack that sells for about $600,000 internationally reportedly fetched $2.8 million in China last month. It’s the latest in a string of China chip stories for Nvidia, after last week’s report that companies approved to buy H200 chips had empty offices.
What happens next
Nvidia’s shares fell about 5% in early trading on Monday before recovering some of the loss. The next dates to watch are the November 18 briefing and any update from the board’s investigation, which hasn’t given a timeline. For comparison, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich resigned in 2018 after an internal investigation into a relationship with an employee; Nvidia’s board, for now, says it has confidence in Huang, who co-founded the company in 1993. For more on how Nvidia got here, read the history of Nvidia.
Sources: Tom’s Hardware: Huang summoned to Congress, Tom’s Hardware: Huang’s letter and the board’s statement, Tom’s Hardware: Congress letter, Tom’s Hardware: Nvidia’s cloud rental limit
Where to buy
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
