{"id":4060,"date":"2026-11-09T11:04:31","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T06:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4060"},"modified":"2026-11-09T11:04:31","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T06:04:31","slug":"nvidia-probes-foreign-spying-attempt-on-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4060","title":{"rendered":"Nvidia probes foreign spying attempt on CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Nvidia said on Sunday that its board was probing whether CEO Jensen Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, after \u200ba media report alleged he had a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who passed information to Beijing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Huang said in a message<\/u><\/a> <\/u>to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife \u200cand took \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for his actions, while Nvidia said the CEO was committed to continuing to lead the company without interruption.<\/p>\n

The developments are likely to pressure the chipmaker\u2019s stock, which has already fallen sharply amid worries about the AI boom\u2019s sustainability, and may also raise questions about Huang\u2019s future at the helm of the company he co-founded, analysts said.<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/em> reported<\/u><\/a> last month that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, an unrelated former executive of Singapore-based company Megaspeed, who US authorities investigated and concluded was a Chinese \u200bintelligence asset.<\/p>\n

US authorities have scrutinised<\/u> Megaspeed, which buys AI chips from Nvidia, over suspicions it helped Beijing gain access to advanced AI chips that are barred from shipment to China.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NVIDIA Board is initiating an \u200bindependent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. A committee of independent directors, assisted \u2060by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation,\u201d Nvidia said.<\/p>\n

The company said on Sunday that while its board had no reason to believe that either US national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, its inquiry would examine \u200ball available information.<\/p>\n

The board has confidence in the CEO and his leadership team, Nvidia said, adding that Huang fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump<\/u><\/a> said on Sunday he had not \u200bspoken to Huang about the allegations, but called him a fine person<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope everything\u2019s fine. He\u2019s done such an incredible job,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

When asked if he believed he should have acted on intelligence when he was briefed about it, Trump said: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so. I think he\u2019s an honourable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/em> had reported that Trump was briefed about the intelligence findings roughly a year ago and chose not to do anything \u200bwith the information.<\/p>\n

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to comment on Huang when asked by reporters earlier in the evening.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.<\/p>\n

Huang said on Sunday that \u200bhe was \u201ccommitted to protecting Nvidia and supporting America\u2019s national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Megaspeed did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside business hours.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Piling pressure on Nvidia<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The investigation adds to pressure on Nvidia at a time investors are already pulling back amid uncertainty over \u200cthe sustainability \u2060of the booming AI market that made the chipmaker one of the world\u2019s most valuable companies.<\/p>\n

The $4.5 trillion chipmaker\u2019s shares have given up all their gains this year amid a broader tech market rout triggered by worries over the pace of AI spending.<\/p>\n

Huang, who has led Nvidia for more than three decades, has been central to its rise to become a dominant supplier of AI chips.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is clearly risk that Jensen could be removed as CEO depending on the Board investigation, and this will add risk to the stock as he is so important to the Nvidia story and strategy globally,\u201d said Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives & Co.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a black eye moment \u200bfor Jensen and will spark multiple congressional inquiries at \u200ba minimum and will create an overhang on \u2060the stock,\u201d Ives said, adding that the news would also increase scrutiny about selling chips to China.<\/p>\n

Huang admitted to having been unfaithful to his wife, saying, \u201cMy actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing his colleagues, board, partners and shareholders, Huang said: \u201cMy responsibility is to serve you and \u200bbe worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility. I am fully committed to NVIDIA and will work to earn back your confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u200bIn late October, he had told \u2060Bloomberg News that his relationship and interactions with Alice Huang were related to Megaspeed<\/u><\/a> and were \u201ccompletely normal and not unusual\u201d.<\/p>\n

Josh Gilbert, lead analyst at trading platform eToro, said Huang\u2019s fingerprints were on every part of the company\u2019s rise, so any doubt over his position would matter to shareholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the investigation is likely to dent sentiment, it won\u2019t alter anything long-term unless it leads to a change at the top, at which point it becomes a completely different ball game,\u201d Gilbert added.<\/p>\n

Top Republican \u2060lawmakers in the \u200bUS House of Representatives had already called on Huang to brief Congress<\/u><\/a> this month about the New York Times<\/em> report.<\/p>\n

The report raises \u201csignificant national \u200bsecurity concerns regarding (China\u2019s) access to sensitive US technology and information,\u201d the lawmakers said in a letter dated November 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

US export controls<\/u><\/a> since 2022 have sought to restrict China\u2019s access \u200bto advanced Nvidia chips and the equipment needed to make them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nvidia said on Sunday that its board was probing whether CEO Jensen Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, after \u200ba media report alleged he had a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who passed information to Beijing. Huang said in a message to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife \u200cand took \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for his actions, while Nvidia said the CEO was committed to continuing to lead the company without interruption. The developments are likely to pressure the chipmaker\u2019s stock, which has already…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}