Photo: Collected
Jensen Huang, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nvidia, the world’s leading maker of artificial intelligence (AI) chips, has admitted to having an extramarital affair with a woman. US intelligence agencies suspect the woman of being a Chinese spy.
The information came to light after an independent investigation committee was formed to examine whether Jensen Huang had been the target of international espionage. Nvidia, which he leads, is a multinational chipmaker valued at $4.5 trillion.
Citing a classified intelligence memo prepared under the supervision of the US State Department and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US media reported that Jensen’s lover Alice Huang (no relation) had been recruited by China’s main intelligence agency, the ‘Ministry of State Security’ (MSS).
The intelligence report, based on electronic surveillance, identifies Alice Huang as part of a Chinese ‘honey trap’ operation.
Alice Huang is a top executive at the Singapore-based technology company ‘Megaspeed’. The company buys billions of dollars’ worth of advanced AI chips from Nvidia. Megaspeed is already under investigation over allegations that it helped smuggle advanced AI processors and chips into China, circumventing US export restrictions.
After the matter became known, the 63-year-old Jensen Huang acknowledged breaking his marital trust in a message sent to colleagues. He married Lori Mills in 1985 and is the father of two. In the message he wrote, ‘I was not faithful to my wife. My actions have caused serious hurt to my wife and children. There is no excuse for my behaviour. I sincerely apologise.’
In a statement yesterday (Sunday), Nvidia’s board of directors said it was investigating whether the company’s CEO had been targeted by any international intelligence agency. It said the board’s confidence in Jensen’s leadership remains intact while the work of this investigation committee, made up of independent directors and legal counsel, continues.
The board said, ‘Nvidia gives the highest priority to the national and economic security of the United States. Our preliminary review has found no evidence that national security or any of Nvidia’s technological secrets were compromised, but all the information will still be examined impartially. Jensen has pledged full cooperation with this investigation.’
Amid US–China competition over AI technology, the Biden administration had imposed strict restrictions on exports of advanced chips to China. But after Donald Trump became US president for a second term, Jensen Huang had been lobbying the White House hard to ease the rules on chip sales to China.
Although the US administration was aware of the Chinese chip conspiracy, Jensen Huang had been playing a very influential role in Trump’s policymaking circles. In 2026 he was even appointed to Trump’s ‘Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’.
Responding to reporters’ questions last night (Sunday), President Donald Trump took Jensen’s side, calling him a ‘respected and wonderful person’. Trump said, ‘He has done a great job for our country. I haven’t heard that he did anything wrong. He got involved with someone, but a lot of people do that.’
Jensen Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 while sitting in a diner in California. Over the next three decades, under his leadership, the company became the world’s most influential technology company.
However, the revelation of this top tech executive’s sensitive relationship with a woman linked to the Chinese government has raised major new concerns about US domestic politics and national security in the technology sector.
Background
According to a 30 October report by South Korean daily Kyunghyang Shinmun, The New York Times reported on 29 October that US intelligence suspected Megaspeed executive Alice Huang (Chinese name Huang Le) of being a Chinese spy.
According to an EFE report, Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo had at the time described Jensen’s contacts with Alice Huang as ‘not unusual or unexpected’ — Chile’s Emol published the report on 30 October. This statement does not match the reports of the admission of an affair; the information differs between sources.
According to a Free Press Journal report on 6 November, the Republican chairmen of three committees of the US House of Representatives have asked Jensen Huang for a closed-door briefing on 18 November about his relationship with Alice Huang.
Sources
Background sources: Kyunghyang Shinmun, 30 October 2026; Emol (EFE), 30 October 2026; Free Press Journal, 6 November 2026
