Nvidia co-founder CEO Jensen Huang has by no means been as flashy or controversy-prone as AI leaders like OpenAI’s Sam Altman or SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk. Now, the 63-year-old trade kingpin has admitted that he cheated on his spouse of 40 years in an affair that might have ramifications past Huang’s private life and probably affect nationwide safety.
United States officers imagine that Huang’s possible romantic curiosity, Megaspeed govt Alice Huang, is a Chinese language spy who has been feeding info again to Beijing. (Alice Huang, a Chinese language citizen, is of no relation to Jensen Huang.)
Megaspeed, a Singapore-based AI infrastructure firm, had reportedly bought $4.8 billion in Nvidia chips during the last two years. The U.S. and Singapore have each beforehand investigated Megaspeed over suspicions that the agency was illegally sharing chips with China. The Justice Division has since taken over the federal investigation into the corporate, the Occasions has reported.
The story took a sudden new activate Wednesday. Citing 5 individuals who labored at Nvidia, the Occasions reported that Huang additionally had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, the corporate’s vice chairman of well being care, who experiences on to him. Nvidia, Huang and Powell haven’t confirmed the report. Reached by a Occasions reporter, Huang reportedly mentioned, “I don’t suppose you have to be speaking to me instantly,” earlier than hanging up.
Individually, the Wall Avenue Journal reported that Nvidia’s board is getting ready to oust Huang, and Nvidia’s shares fell in after-hours buying and selling.
The U.S. and China are embroiled in a fierce technological arms race to construct probably the most superior AI infrastructure, which might form every nation’s financial future, army prowess, and capability for innovation. Nvidia is efficacious on this competitors as one of many world’s largest makers of AI chips, that are important for accelerating AI growth. However as an American firm, Nvidia faces authorities restrictions on the sale of its strongest chips to Chinese language entities.
Because the controversy unfolds, we’re organizing probably the most related occasions right into a reverse-chronological timeline to maintain you updated.
November 11, 2026: Nvidia’s inventory drops as board reportedly preps to oust CEO Jensen Huang
November 11, 2026: Huang additionally had an affair with an Nvidia govt who experiences to him, NYT says
The New York Occasions reported that Jensen Huang additionally had an affair with Nvidia vice chairman of healthcare Kimberly Powell, who experiences on to the CEO.
Based on the report, Huang and Powell had been captured on movie “being affectionate” at a lodge throughout a convention earlier this yr.
November 11, 2026: Congress plans to subpoena Huang to reply questions on affair
Huang has not responded to a request from three Republican congressman to look for a closed-door briefing for questioning about his affair with an alleged Chinese language spy. Home China committee Chairman Moolenaar mentioned Wednesday on Fox Enterprise that if Huang doesn’t conform to the briefing, he’ll possible be subpoenaed.
November 9, 2026: Huang pulls out of assorted talking engagements
The Nvidia CEO pulled out of upcoming talking engagements on the ElevenLabs Summit and Anthropic CEO Discussion board.
November 9-10, 2026: Particulars emerge in regards to the enterprise relationships between Nvidia and the alleged spy
Alice Huang and her household reportedly constructed a community of corporations in China and Singapore to accumulate Nvidia chips, together with founding a Chinese language firm referred to as Shanghai Century Litong. Based in 2023, it turned an Nvidia-preferred cloud accomplice, giving it precedence entry to chips, The Info reported. The Info additionally reported that Shanghai Century Litong facilitated shopping for $7.5 billion price of Nvidia’s chips, together with banned chips.
Nvidia’s head lawyer, Tim Teter, intervened in a 2025 U.S. authorities probe surrounding the suspected smuggling of AI chips by Megaspeed Worldwide, Bloomberg reported. Teter contacted Commerce Below Secretary Jeffrey Kessler asking questions on whether or not the Trump administration performed a task in detaining Alice Huang.
In early 2025, Alice Huang and a enterprise accomplice sought China-based buyers for an Asian information heart, promising that they had no drawback in securing GPUs, the Monetary Occasions reported.
November 8, 2026: Trump exhibits assist for Nvidia CEO, calls him a “superb particular person”
On Sunday night time, President Trump weighed in on Huang’s controversy and confirmed assist for the Nvidia CEO.
“I’ve not spoken to him about it. I simply know he’s a superb particular person, however you by no means know what’s occurring,” Trump mentioned.
When requested if Huang ought to stay chief of Nvidia, Trump mentioned, “I feel so. Oh yeah, positive.”
November 8, 2026: Huang admits to affair in public message to Nvidia staff; Nvidia board of administrators begins investigation
Jensen Huang wrote in a letter to Nvidia staff — which was additionally printed as a press launch — that he cheated on his spouse.
“I owe my household and all of you an apology,” Huang instructed his firm. “I used to be untrue to my spouse. My actions damage her and our youngsters. There isn’t a excuse for what I did. I’m deeply sorry.”
Huang didn’t point out Alice Huang by title within the message, however linked his infidelity to “the nationwide safety issues raised in information experiences.”
“Nvidia’s Board of Administrators has initiated an unbiased investigation. I assist the investigation and can cooperate totally. I really like our nation and our firm. I’m dedicated to defending Nvidia and supporting America’s nationwide safety. I’m proud and grateful to be an American,” Huang wrote.
Nvidia shares slid over 5% the next day.
November 5, 2026: Three Republican committee chairmen ask Huang for closed-door briefing
Three Republican congressmen — Chairman John Moolenaar of the Home Choose Committee on China, Chairman Brian Mast of the Home International Affairs Committee, and Chairman Rick Crawford of the Home Everlasting Choose Committee on Intelligence — despatched a request to Huang for a closed-door joint briefing with their three committees.
“Latest experiences increase important nationwide safety issues concerning the [People’s Republic of China]’s entry to delicate U.S. know-how and knowledge,” the chairmen wrote. “The problem of PRC infiltration and entry to cutting-edge U.S. know-how is core to the investigative work of our three committees this Congress. It’s important that Congress determines the extent to which U.S. nationwide safety has been positioned in danger.”
October 29, 2026: Jensen Huang publicly revealed to have developed ‘shut relationship’ with suspected Chinese language spy
U.S. officers had been investigating Alice Huang and Megaspeed for greater than a yr when the New York Occasions broke the story in late October that the 2 executives additionally had a detailed relationship.
An Nvidia spokesperson denied that this relationship was one thing out of the odd.
“Jensen’s interactions with Ms. Huang usually are not uncommon or surprising. Conferences with clients are a part of a CEO’s job; Jensen talks with 1000’s of buyer executives yearly,” Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo mentioned. He added that “if the U.S. authorities believes that any particular person is a menace to American trade, it might tell us.”
Spring 2026: A secret memo circulates within the Trump administration about Nvidia CEO’s alleged relationship with Chinese language spy
U.S. officers circulated a secret memo amongst policymakers that warned that Megaspeed’s Alice Huang, who had a relationship with Jensen Huang, was a spy for China’s Ministry of State Safety. This memo was not public data till it was later reported by the New York Occasions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio supervised the drafting of the memo.
Late 2025: President Trump briefed on U.S. surveillance of Alice Huang and her relationship to Nvidia CEO however doesn’t take motion
Across the similar time, per the New York Occasions’ report, U.S. President Donald Trump was briefed about intelligence findings that doable Chinese language spy Alice Huang had fashioned a detailed relationship with Jensen Huang. Trump didn’t act on this info.
The Nvidia CEO, an ally of Trump, has repeatedly advocated for the U.S. authorities to let Nvidia develop its enterprise in China.
October 2025: U.S. and Singapore every examine Megaspeed over doable Chinese language export violations
Megaspeed was confirmed to be below investigation by each the U.S. and Singaporean governments in October 2025. As a buyer of Nvidia, Megaspeed was suspected of serving to Chinese language corporations get round American embargoes on chip exports.
Megaspeed, a neocloud that used Nvidia chips, had been renting computing energy to Chinese language web large Alibaba and different Chinese language corporations, the Occasions reported. A Commerce Division official who had visited Megaspeed’s information heart in Malaysia in 2024 had discovered a hoard of Nvidia gear that was nonetheless packed in containers and the priority was that this gear was being instantly shipped elsewhere, like China, fairly than put in and offered as a cloud service.
Jensen Huang had been noticed socializing with Megaspeed govt Alice Huang as early as 2024 in Taiwan, the place the Nvidia CEO was born.
These investigations into Megaspeed highlighted issues in regards to the diploma to which Nvidia is ready to observe its chip exports. On the time, an Nvidia spokesperson instructed press that the corporate didn’t have “any purpose to imagine merchandise had been diverted.”
“NVIDIA visited a number of Megaspeed websites but once more earlier this week and confirmed what we beforehand noticed — Megaspeed is operating a small industrial cloud, like many different corporations all through the world, as allowed by U.S. export management guidelines,” the Nvidia spokesperson mentioned on the time.
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