Red Hot Cyber
Cybersecurity, Cybercrime News and Vulnerability Analysis
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to cheating on his wife following news about his relationship with a woman suspected of working for Chinese intelligence services. The company’s board of directors announced the launch of an independent investigation. For now, Huang will continue to lead Nvidia.
In a message published on November 8, the 63‑year‑old Huang apologized to his wife and children, admitting he had caused them pain and taking full responsibility for his actions. «I cheated on my wife. My actions caused her pain, as well as our children’s. There is no justification for my behavior», he wrote. The Nvidia chief also apologized to employees, the board of directors, partners and shareholders, stating that he had not earned their trust and wants to regain it. The message did not mention the woman’s name.
Huang promised to support the investigation and to cooperate fully with it. «I love our country and our company. I am determined to protect Nvidia and to support United States national security», he added. Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo said: «Today’s news will not slow Nvidia’s work», and Huang will continue to lead the company «without interruption».
Meanwhile, speculation is growing that Huang may have become a target of foreign intelligence services. The investigation will be overseen by a committee of independent directors with the involvement of independent external lawyers. The board emphasized that it currently sees no reason to believe that United States national security or Nvidia’s secrets have been jeopardized, but it intends to examine all available information. It also expressed confidence in Huang and his team.
At the center of the scandal is Alice Huang, former Megaspeed executive, a major buyer of Nvidia AI accelerators based in Singapore. According to U.S. intelligence, she was recruited by the Chinese Ministry of State Security to gather information on Jensen Huang. The alleged operation may also have aimed to influence him so that Nvidia would obtain permission to supply its most advanced chips to China. Separately, U.S. authorities suspected that Megaspeed had facilitated the supply of AI accelerators to China by circumventing U.S. export restrictions. Thus, the suspicions involve both an intelligence operation against Nvidia’s chief and illegal Chinese access to the company’s technologies.
The matter has already drawn the attention of Congress. The chairs of three House committees — foreign affairs, intelligence and China — have asked Huang to hold a closed briefing on November 18. Lawmakers want explanations regarding the disclosures and to understand how Nvidia protects sensitive information from foreign intelligence. Previously, the company said that Huang communicates annually with thousands of executives at client companies, and that Asian cloud customers receive ordinary commercial information, not trade secrets or United States national security information.
The question of Huang’s future is of particular importance to Nvidia: the company has no succession plan for its founder. Huang himself has repeatedly said he intends to remain in office for another decade. He has built around himself an informal management structure with minimal hierarchical levels, where subordinates must implement his decisions quickly.
