SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Nvidia’s board of directors said Sunday, Nov. 8, that it is opening an independent investigation after reports that founder and CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, TechCrunch and The Verge reported.
Related: House Chairmen Ask Jensen Huang for Nov. 18 Briefing on Reported China Spy Link.
What the board said
A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will oversee the review, according to the board statement published by The Verge. The board said it has no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, and that its inquiry will examine all available information.
The statement said Huang fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating. The board also said it “has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team.”
What Huang told employees
Nvidia also published a message from Huang to the company in which he admitted having an affair with a former executive at Singapore-based chip company Megaspeed, TechCrunch reported. He did not name her in the message. “I owe my family and all of you an apology,” Huang wrote.
A memo that circulated among U.S. policymakers earlier this year claimed the executive had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to spy on Huang, according to TechCrunch. That claim has not been publicly proven. Nvidia said in response to earlier reports that the pair’s interactions were not out of the ordinary and that it does not share classified information with customers.
Why it matters for AI chips
Megaspeed is an Nvidia customer and the subject of a Commerce Department investigation into whether it smuggled AI chips to China, The Verge reported. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have restricted sales of those chips to China. President Trump has loosened the limits but still bars sales of Nvidia’s most powerful chips to Chinese firms.
More coverage is on our Artificial Intelligence page.
What happens next
The board said it will provide further updates as appropriate. It gave no timeline for finishing the review.
Sources
- TechCrunch: Nvidia will investigate CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with possible Chinese spy
- The Verge: Nvidia is investigating Jensen Huang’s relationship with a Chinese spy
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