In a message to employees, the 63-year-old CEO admitted to being “unfaithful” to his wife, Lori Mills, and apologized for hurting her and their children. Huang stated he took “full responsibility” for his actions but did not name the woman involved in his statement. “There is no excuse for what I did,” Huang wrote, adding that he had fallen short of his responsibilities to employees, the board, and shareholders. He affirmed his commitment to protecting Nvidia and supporting US national security, pledging to cooperate fully with the ongoing review.
The allegations center on Alice Huang, the CEO of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company that purchases AI chips from Nvidia. According to a report by The New York Times, US authorities began monitoring Megaspeed after suspicions emerged that the firm was smuggling Nvidia’s high-end graphics processing units to China, in violation of US export restrictions. Intelligence officials subsequently assessed that Alice Huang, who is not related to Jensen Huang, was tasked with passing commercial secrets to Beijing. The CIA, NSA, and ODNI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While the board maintains that it has “no reason to believe” that either US national security or Nvidia’s proprietary secrets were compromised, the inquiry will examine all available information. Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo noted that the company trusts the US government would have notified them of a genuine threat if one had materialized. “The Board prioritizes U.S. national and economic security, which is paramount to the interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders,” the statement read, expressing confidence in Huang’s leadership team.
China has rejected the espionage claims, describing them as “groundless speculation.” In Washington, the Republican-led foreign affairs and intelligence committees of the US Congress have requested that Jensen Huang testify in a closed-door briefing this week regarding the chipmaker’s security protocols against foreign adversary espionage. US President Donald Trump, who has not spoken to Huang since the news emerged, told reporters, “I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what’s going on.”
Nvidia, one of the world’s most valuable companies, has led the industry in developing the hardware essential for emerging artificial intelligence technologies for over three decades. As the investigation proceeds, the company has not announced a specific deadline for the release of findings, though the board indicated it would provide further updates as appropriate.
