US lawmakers summon Nvidia ex-CEO after affair with suspected spy

Detailed summary

The scandal has wiped almost half a trillion dollars off Nvidia's market valuation, as it raises national security fears and leaves the AI industry in uncharted waters ...

US lawmakers have called Jensen Huang, an architect of the artificial intelligence boom, to face their questions in December after the Nvidia ex-CEO quit over extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy.

The scandal has wiped almost half a trillion dollars off Nvidia's market valuation, as it raises national security fears and leaves the AI industry in uncharted waters.

"Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive US technology," Republican Senator Tim Scott wrote Thursday on X.

Scott said he was requesting Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify in December before the Senate Banking Committee, which he chairs.

It joins a call for a closed-door interview with the leather-jacketed 63-year-old Huang on December 1 by three House of Representatives committees on threat of subpoena.

Huang, who has been married to his wife, Lori, for over 40 years, admitted Sunday to an affair, reportedly with Alice Huang, a former senior executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed. The two are not related.

US intelligence reportedly circulated a memo this spring alleging she was an asset of China's Ministry of State Security. Beijing has rejected the allegations.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported a second affair, citing a video of Huang being affectionate with Nvidia's vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell.

While Nvidia's board searches for a permanent successor to Huang, who spent 33 years at the helm of the firm he co-founded, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO.

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