NVIDIA co-founder, and now retired CEO Jensen Huang, has never been as high-profile or surrounded by controversy as OpenAI's Sam Altman or SpaceXAI's Elon Musk. Now, this 63-year-old industry giant has admitted to being unfaithful to his wife of 40 years, and the implications of this extramarital affair may extend beyond his personal life, even involving U.S. national security.
U.S. officials believe that Jensen Huang's potential romantic partner, Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, is a Chinese spy who passes information to Beijing. (Alice Huang is a Chinese citizen and has no familial relationship with Jensen Huang.)
Megaspeed is an AI infrastructure company headquartered in Singapore, which has reportedly purchased NVIDIA chips worth $4.8 billion over the past two years. Both the United States and Singapore have previously conducted investigations into the company for suspected illegal transfers of chips to China. According to a report by The New York Times, the U.S. Department of Justice has since taken over the federal investigation.
There was a new development in this case on Wednesday. The New York Times cited reports from five former NVIDIA employees, stating that Jensen Huang also had an extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, the vice president of the company's healthcare business, who reported directly to him. Neither NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, nor Powell has confirmed these reports. According to the newspaper, when contacted by reporters, Jensen Huang said, "I don't think you should talk to me about this directly," and then hung up the phone.
In addition, The Wall Street Journal reported that NVIDIA's board of directors is preparing to remove Jensen Huang from his position, and NVIDIA's stock price fell in after-hours trading.
The United States and China are embroiled in a fierce technological arms race, competing to build the most advanced AI infrastructure, which could affect the economic future, military strength, and innovation capabilities of both countries. As one of the world's largest manufacturers of AI chips, NVIDIA holds significant value in this competition, as AI chips are crucial for accelerating the development of AI. However, as a U.S. company, NVIDIA faces government restrictions when selling its most powerful chips to Chinese entities.
As this incident continues to develop, we have organized the most relevant events in reverse chronological order to help readers stay informed about the progress in a timely manner.
November 12, 2026: Jensen Huang resigns, and CFO Colette Kress takes on the role of interim CEO.
NVIDIA confirmed in a document submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday that the board of directors accepted Jensen Huang's resignation on Wednesday. The company's current Chief Financial Officer will serve as interim CEO while continuing to perform his current duties. NVIDIA plans to conduct a broader search to determine Jensen Huang's official successor.
Square Wave Ventures, a managing partner and former Synopsys CEO Harvey C, was appointed as the company's first chairman of the board of directors. Jones has served as a director at NVIDIA since 1993.
November 11, 2026: It is reported that the board of directors is preparing to remove CEO Jensen Huang, and NVIDIA's stock price has fallen.
After the second report of an extramarital affair emerged, according to The Wall Street Journal, NVIDIA's board of directors is reportedly planning to meet to discuss Jensen Huang's future in the company. In after-hours trading on Wednesday, the stock fell by about 8%, and it has dropped 11% over the past five days.
Jensen Huang has stated that he hardly delegates power, with approximately 60 people directly reporting to him. The company previously did not have a clear successor, nor was there a defined succession plan.
November 11, 2026: The New York Times reported that Jensen Huang also had an affair with a NVIDIA executive who reported to him.
The New York Times reported that Jensen Huang also had an extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, the vice president of NVIDIA's healthcare business, who reported directly to this individual.
It is reported that Jensen Huang and Powell were caught having "intimate behavior" in a hotel during a conference earlier this year.
November 11, 2026: Congress plans to summon Jensen Huang to testify regarding an extramarital affair
Jensen Huang has not yet responded to the requests of three Republican members of Congress to attend a closed-door briefing and to be questioned regarding his extramarital affair with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy. On Wednesday, Moolenaar, the chairman of the House Committee on China Issues, stated that if Jensen Huang does not agree to attend the briefing, he is likely to be summoned.
November 9, 2026: Jensen Huang cancels multiple speaking engagements
This NVIDIA CEO has cancelled his upcoming speeches at ElevenLabs Summit and Anthropic CEO Forum.
From November 9th to 10th, 2026: Details of the business relationship between NVIDIA and this woman, who is accused of being a spy, come to light.
It is reported that Alice Huang and his family established a network of companies in China and Singapore to obtain NVIDIA chips, including founding a Chinese company named Shanghai Century Litong. According to The Information, the company was established in 2023 and later became a preferred cloud partner of NVIDIA, allowing them to receive chips on a priority basis. The Information also states that Shanghai Century Litong assisted in purchasing NVIDIA chips worth $7.5 billion, which included prohibited chips as well.
Bloomberg reported that NVIDIA's chief lawyer Tim Teter was involved in a 2025 investigation by the U.S. government regarding Megaspeed International's alleged smuggling of AI chips. Teter contacted Jeffrey Kessler, the deputy secretary for export affairs at the Department of Commerce, to inquire whether the Trump administration played any role in the detention of Alice Huang.
The Financial Times reported that in early 2025, Alice Huang and a business partner were seeking Chinese investors for an Asian data center, claiming that they had no issues obtaining GPU.
November 8, 2026: Trump publicly supports NVIDIA CEO, calling him a "good man"
On Sunday evening, Trump made a statement regarding the controversy surrounding Jensen Huang and expressed his support for this NVIDIA CEO.
Trump said, "I haven't talked to him about this yet. I just know that he's a good person, but you never know what really happened."
When asked whether Jensen Huang should continue to serve as NVIDIA CEO, Trump said, "I think so. Oh, of course."
November 8, 2026: Jensen Huang admits an extramarital affair in an open letter to employees; NVIDIA's board of directors initiates an investigation
In a letter written to NVIDIA employees, which was also released as a press release, Jensen Huang admitted to being unfaithful to his wife.
Jensen Huang said to the company, "I owe an apology to my family and to all of you. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our child. I have no excuses. I am deeply sorry."
Jensen Huang did not mention Alice Huang by name in the letter, but linked his own infidelity to the “national security concerns raised in news reports.”
He wrote, "NVIDIA's board of directors has initiated an independent investigation. I support this investigation and will fully cooperate. I love my country and my company. I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting national security in the United States. I am proud and grateful to be an American."
NVIDIA's stock price fell by more than 5% the following day.
November 5, 2026: Three Republican committee chairs requested Jensen Huang to attend a closed-door briefing
Three Republican members of Congress – the Chairman of the House Select Committee on China John Moolenaar, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Brian Mast, and the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Rick Crawford – have sent a request to Jensen Huang, asking him to attend a closed-door briefing jointly organized by these three committees.
The three chairmen wrote: "Recent reports have raised significant national security concerns regarding the People's Republic of China's acquisition of sensitive U.S. technology and information. The issues of Chinese infiltration and the acquisition of U.S. cutting-edge technology are at the core of the investigations conducted by these three committees of this Congress. Congress must determine to what extent U.S. national security has been threatened."
October 29, 2026: Jensen Huang was publicly disclosed to have established 'close relationships' with a person suspected of being a Chinese spy
Before The New York Times exposed the close relationship between these two executives in late October, American officials had been investigating Alice Huang and Megaspeed for over a year.
A NVIDIA spokesperson denied that there was anything unusual about this relationship.
NVIDIA spokesperson John Rizzo said, "Jensen Huang's contact with Ms. Huang is nothing unusual or surprising. Meeting with clients is part of CEO's job; Jensen Huang communicates with tens of thousands of client executives every year." He added, "If the U.S. government believes that anyone poses a threat to the American industry, they will inform us."
Spring 2026: A secret memo regarding the relationship between NVIDIA CEO and this individual, who is alleged to be a Chinese spy, circulated within the Trump administration.
American officials circulated a secret memo among policymakers warning that an executive Alice Huang associated with Jensen Huang was a spy for China's National Security Bureau. It was not until later, when The New York Times reported on it, that the memo became known to the public.
The drafting of this memorandum was supervised by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
By the end of 2025: Trump was briefly informed about U.S. surveillance of Alice Huang and its relationship with NVIDIA CEO, but no action was taken.
According to The New York Times, around the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump was informed by intelligence agencies that a suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang had established close ties with Jensen Huang. Trump did not take any action regarding this matter.
This NVIDIA CEO is a ally of Trump and has repeatedly advocated that the U.S. government allow NVIDIA to expand its business in China.
October 2025: The United States and Singapore separately investigate whether Megaspeed may be violating Chinese export regulations
Megaspeed was confirmed in October 2025 to be under investigation by the governments of the United States and Singapore. As a customer of NVIDIA, Megaspeed is suspected of helping Chinese companies circumvent U.S. chip export bans.
The New York Times reported that this company, which uses NVIDIA chips, neocloud, once rented computing power to Chinese internet giant Alibaba and other Chinese companies. During a visit to Megaspeed's data center in Malaysia in 2024, an official from the Ministry of Commerce found that a large number of NVIDIA devices were still packed in boxes. The official was concerned that these devices might be shipped directly to other places, such as China, rather than being installed and sold as cloud services.
It is reported that Jensen Huang was already socializing with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang in Taiwan as early as 2024. Taiwan is Jensen Huang's place of birth.
These investigations surrounding Megaspeed highlight concerns from the outside world about to what extent NVIDIA is able to track the export of its chips. At that time, a NVIDIA spokesperson told the media that the company "has no reason to believe that products are being re-exported."
An NVIDIA spokesperson said at the time, "NVIDIA visited multiple sites of Megaspeed again and confirmed what we had observed before – Megaspeed is operating a small commercial cloud, which, like many other companies around the world, complies with U.S. export control regulations."
