He built a chipmaking giant. Now Jensen Huang faces his biggest test

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Nvidia is facing a major test as revelations surface that he had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy.

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Over three decades, Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang helped propel the chipmaker’s rise into one of the world’s most valuable and resilient companies, leading the business through near-death and periods of reinvention.

Now the self-described “battlefield CEO” faces a personal crisis that will test a roughly $4-trillion Silicon Valley powerhouse that has become the face of the artificial intelligence revolution.

Over the weekend, the 63-year-old tech billionaire and married father of two sent an apology to his employees, admitting he had an affair and is hoping to win back trust. Nvidia’s board announced it is launching an investigation after allegations surfaced that Huang had a relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.

“Leading NVIDIA is the privilege of my life. My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility. I am fully committed to NVIDIA and will work to earn back your confidence,” Huang said in the note to employees.

The board said it doesn’t believe the relationship compromised Nvidia’s secrets or national security. China has dismissed the allegations as an unsubstantiated “smear” campaign against the country.

The revelations, though, rattled Silicon Valley and Washington, where federal lawmakers have called for an investigation into accusations that China targeted the powerful tech mogul. The scandal also comes as the U.S. competes with China in the AI race, raising more scrutiny over Nvidia’s business with the country.

Nvidia launched the investigation after the New York Times first reported in late October that American intelligence agencies found that Huang developed a close relationship with a Chinese citizen that was passing on intelligence to Beijing. The woman, Alice Huang, worked as an executive for Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, which is one of Nvidia’s biggest customers in Southeast Asia.

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