Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has admitted to having an affair, two days after the Financial Times reported his alleged romantic relationship with a woman the US intelligence community believes was working as a spy for China.
In an internal message to employees on Sunday, obtained by the FT, Huang wrote: "I owe my family and all of you an apology. 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." In a separate statement, Nvidia said its board would open an independent investigation into the reporting that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Huang said he would fully co-operate.
The FT reported on Friday that American officials had written a memo, based on US intelligence, stating that Huang had been romantically involved with Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based customer of Nvidia. The memo said US intelligence believed the Megaspeed executive had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security. Nvidia had previously dismissed suggestions of an improper relationship, saying the interactions were "nothing unusual or unexpected" for a customer.
Huang has developed a close relationship with President Donald Trump, which has frustrated US national security officials who believe he is too willing to sell advanced chips to China. He has repeatedly lobbied Trump to ease restrictions on shipping Nvidia's AI chips to China. The resulting deal permitted exports of Nvidia's older-generation H200 chips, with the US government taking a cut of sales, but it further angered China hawks in the administration. The US government had already been investigating Megaspeed over concerns it was smuggling Nvidia chips into China.
Nvidia said a committee of independent directors, assisted by external lawyers, would oversee the investigation. "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 company said.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing