Nvidia’s board of directors is moving to oust long-time CEO Jensen Huang, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as the tech giant grapples with a deepening scandal involving allegations of an extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese intelligence asset.
The potential ouster follows explosive reports that Huang, who co-founded the semiconductor powerhouse in 1993, maintained a personal relationship with Alice Huang. While the two are not related, U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly believe Alice Huang, who formerly headed the Singapore-based firm Megaspeed International, acted as an operative for China’s Ministry of State Security.
The revelation has sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley and global markets. Nvidia’s share price slid more than 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, exacerbating a multi-day sell-off for the company, which has become the linchpin of the global artificial intelligence industry.
The crisis began to unfold last week following reports that American intelligence had identified Huang as the target of a sophisticated Chinese espionage operation. Over the weekend, Huang issued a message to Nvidia employees admitting he had been “unfaithful to my wife,” though he did not specifically name his partner. In response, Nvidia’s board launched an independent investigation into whether their chief executive had been compromised.
“We trust that if we were the target of a genuine threat, the U.S. government would have notified us,” Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo stated earlier this week. The company maintains that it has no evidence that proprietary secrets or national security interests were compromised during the affair.
The geopolitical stakes are immense. Nvidia chips are essential for AI development and are subject to stringent U.S. export controls intended to prevent China from gaining a strategic edge in advanced computing. The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Megaspeed International regarding potential violations of these export restrictions, raising concerns among analysts about whether the alleged intelligence plot facilitated the illicit transfer of sensitive technology.
The Trump administration is reportedly closely monitoring the situation. Despite the allegations, President Trump defended Huang during a recent White House briefing, calling him a “very high-quality person” and suggesting that federal authorities would clear him of wrongdoing. The president noted that he had spoken with the CEO, who claimed he had “absolutely no idea” the woman was a spy.
The scandal has already triggered legal fallout, with the company now facing a securities lawsuit accusing it of failing to disclose the risks associated with the CEO’s personal entanglements.
As the board moves toward a leadership change, the future of Nvidia—a company that grew from a gaming hardware designer into a cornerstone of American national security and economic power—remains in significant flux. Meanwhile, Beijing has dismissed the allegations as “entirely baseless,” labeling the reports as “slander and smear.”
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