Nvidia shares slide as board probes CEO over China spy reports

Detailed summary

Jensen Huang admits affair amid claims of espionage, Nvidia stock drops AI chip behemoth Nvidia was plunged into turmoil Monday after CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged having an…

Jensen Huang admits affair amid claims of espionage, Nvidia stock drops

AI chip behemoth Nvidia was plunged into turmoil Monday after CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged having an affair, with reports saying US officials believe the woman was spying for China.

Beijing denied the claim, but shares of the chipmaker tumbled after Nvidia's board opened an inquiry into reports that Huang had been "the target of a foreign intelligence effort."

Nvidia shares closed more than four percent lower, after being down nearly nine percent earlier in the session.

Late last month, The New York Times reported that US intelligence officials had determined Alice Huang, a Chinese executive linked to Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed, had been funneling information to Beijing.

The executive, also known as Huang Le and no relation to 63-year-old Taiwanese-born Jensen Huang, developed a close relationship with him, the Times said.

In a message to Nvidia employees released on Sunday, Jensen Huang admitted he had been "unfaithful" to his wife.

"My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry," he said.

Jensen Huang is a central figure in the AI boom and a close informal adviser to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly opposed regulating the industry so as not to let China gain the upper hand.

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