Published Nov 09, 2026 | 12:09 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 09, 2026 | 12:16 PM
Ex-Megaspeed MD Alice Huang (left) and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang.
The company that has powered the artificial intelligence boom with its chips, Nvidia, has run into a storm, with its CEO, Jensen Huang, admitting to an affair with an alleged Chinese spy.
The 63-year-old Huang apologised in an email to the company.
“I was unfaithful to my wife,” Huang wrote. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
The woman at the centre of the scandal is said to be Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, who was the managing director of a Singapore-based data centre company, Megaspeed, between March and November 2023, according to the BBC.
The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US intelligence community believed that Alice Huang had been recruited by the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
The Times also reported that “to many in the industry, the well-funded push by Megaspeed into A.I. appeared to come out of nowhere.”
“Megaspeed has been building data centres in Southeast Asia and then renting their computing power to Alibaba, the giant Chinese internet firm, giving China a backdoor way of getting access to advanced Nvidia chips,” the report by Julian E. Barnes, Tripp Mickle, Paul Mozur and Maggie Haberman added.
In the last two years, Megaspeed has bought Nvidia chips worth $4.8 billion.
The BBC, meanwhile, reported that Megaspeed is being investigated by the Singapore government over allegations that it bypassed US trade restrictions preventing the sale of these chips. US authorities, too, were said to have investigated Megaspeed in 2025 for this reason.
Nvidia’s board was quick to spring to the defence of its CEO, stating that the company had “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.”
After effectively giving Huang a clean chit, the board also announced that an “inquiry will examine all available information.”
It also stated that Huang “fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it.”
According to a report at the start of 2026, Nvidia sold 85% of the GPUs (graphics processing units) used by AI giants. Its nearest rival was AMD, with a 7% market share.
Our World in Data highlighted how Nvidia’s revenues from artificial intelligence and data centres grew by 13,000% in the last 12 years.
Nvidia insisted that the revelation will not come in the way of their dizzying growth and that the Taiwanese-American engineer who turned them into the powerhouse they are now will continue to lead the company.
“Today’s news will not slow Nvidia,” John Rizzo, an Nvidia spokesperson, said. “Jensen is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as CEO without interruption.”
US President Donald Trump, who knows what it is to be caught in such a situation, gave a quick vote of confidence to Huang.
“I haven’t heard he’s done anything wrong. He dealt with somebody, but you know, so does everybody else,” Trump said.
The President also confirmed that he would “certainly take” Jensen on his visit to China for the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18-19.
“I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what’s going on,” Trump said, while letting on that he hadn’t spoken to the Nvidia chief.
“I think he’s an honourable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to hear it. He has done an amazing job for our country,” Trump said when reporters confronted him with the fact that Alice Huang had come under the US intelligence scanner about a year ago.
The President’s reply to reporters who asked him if the now-embattled Nvidia CEO would stay in his chair was direct: “I think so. Oh yes, sure.”
Was Trump indicating that Jensen Huang is “too big to fail” for the US at the moment? Probably.
Despite the strong support for Jensen Huang from the Nvidia board and the President, market experts expect a fall in the company’s shares when the US markets reopen on Monday.
“I doubt Jensen Huang will be able to remain as (Nvidia) CEO. This could put short-term pressure on the stock of the second most valuable company in the world,” predicted Future Fund Managing Partner and Tesla investor Gary Black, while observing that Huang’s “code of conduct and judgment will be called into question”.
Uncertainty over the successor of Huang, who doesn’t have a clear number two, will see many portfolio managers reducing their (Nvidia) holdings, he added.
Markets expert Mohammed A. El-Erian noted that “The so-called ‘key-man risk’ looms large here, and it’s doubtful markets have adequately priced it in. This will not be easy for the (Nvidia) board to navigate.”
Reuters reported that shares of Nvidia, the world’s second most valuable company, were down by 3.4% in after-hours and perpetual futures trading.
(Compiled by R Rajesh Kumar.)
