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

Detailed summary

Read more at straitstimes.com.

SAN FRANCISCO – US lawmakers have called Jensen Huang, an architect of the AI boom, to face their questions in December after the former Nvidia chief executive 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 on Nov 12 on social media platform 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 Dec 1 by three House of Representatives committees, on threat of subpoena.

Huang, who has been married to his wife Lori for more than 40 years, admitted on Nov 8 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 in the spring of 2026 alleging she was an asset of China’s Ministry of State Security. Beijing has rejected the allegations.

On Nov 11, The New York Times reported a second affair, citing video of Huang being affectionate with Nvidia’s vice-president of healthcare, 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.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Straits Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.