Tech giant and world’s most valuable company Nvidia has launched an investigation into reports its founder and CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy.

In a statement to the market on Monday Nvidia revealed it had opened an independent investigation into recent media reporting that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation.

In a message to Nvidia employees over the weekend, Huang confirmed that he had been unfaithful to his wife and apologised to his family and the company’s workers.

Nvidia develops computer chips for AI hardware, along with other applications, and is now worth nearly $8 trillion.

Spy allegations

The New York Times reported in late October that Huang had an affair with a businesswoman Nvidia was selling chips to, who US intelligence agencies had identified as a Chinese spy.

The woman, Alice Huang (no relation to Jensen Huang), is a former executive at Singapore-based company Megaspeed, which buys AI chips from Nvidia.

Megaspeed is one of Nvidia’s biggest customers in south-east Asia, having purchased more than $US4.8 billion ($7 billion) in chips over the past two years.

According to the report, US authorities concluded that Alice Huang had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to gather intelligence for Beijing.

She was also allegedly involved in illegally smuggling AI chips to China.

The NYT further reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was involved in drafting a classified memo to some of US President Donald Trump’s administration about the potential foreign interference.

Nvidia has now launched an investigation by a committee of independent directors, who will be assisted by external independent counsel.

“The board prioritises US national and economic security, which is paramount to the interests of Nvidia and its shareholders,” the statement to the market said.

“While the board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, the board’s inquiry will examine all available information.

“The board has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team and will provide further updates as appropriate.”

Public apology

Huang admitted to having an affair in a letter sent to all Nvidia employees and subsequently released publicly.

“I owe my family and all of you an apology,” he said.

“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry. I let them down and damaged the life we built together.

“I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it. You deserve better from me.”

Huang said that he was committed to protecting Nvidia and “supporting America’s national security”.

“I love our country and our company – I am proud and grateful to be an American,” he said.

“Leading Nvidia is the privilege of my life. My responsibility is to serve 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 will remain in his role while the investigation takes place.

Senior Republican members of the US House of Representatives have called on Huang to brief Congress this month about the allegations.

Huang founded Nvidia in 1993, and it is now worth $7.7 trillion amid soaring demand for AI hardware and data centres around the world.

He now has a close working relationship with Trump and has argued for the removal of restrictions on sale of advanced chips to China.

It comes after three men were arrested in March for allegedly planning to smuggle hundreds of export-controlled Nvidia AI chips from the US to China.

The plot involved two US citizens who allegedly contacted a China national and attempted to "obtain computer servers with export-controlled computer chips”.

Nvidia, which is listed on Nasdaq, became the world’s most valuable company in mid-2024.