Spy thriller about the AI ​​boom: Nvidia boss had an affair with a possible Chinese spy

dpa | Nvidia boss Jensen Huang's affair with a possible Chinese spy is shaking the tech industry. The company, whose chips became the key technology in the AI ​​boom, launched an investigation. Huang admitted the infidelity after initial denials.

Nvidia's board of directors said that while there is currently no reason to believe that Nvidia's trade secrets or U.S. national security have been compromised, the investigation will pursue all available information. The committee continues to have confidence in Huang and his management team. The 63-year-old is a leading co-founder of Nvidia.

There had previously been media reports that, according to US security authorities, a woman close to the Nvidia boss could have been recruited by Chinese intelligence.

The chips from Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world, dominate in data centers when it comes to training and operating artificial intelligence. Huang made a name for himself as the face of AI change: at Nvidia conferences and other public appearances, he tirelessly preaches the world-changing role of artificial intelligence in all areas of life.

A crisis at Nvidia could also have much wider implications: the company from Santa Clara in Silicon Valley invests some of its billions in profits to support AI start-ups, which in turn use them to buy the company's chips. Huang has also developed a close relationship with US President Donald Trump in recent years. Once he took a call from the head of state directly on stage. Huang was also present on Trump's most recent state visit to China.

After admitting the affair, Trump backed Huang. “I just know that he is a fine person,” the president told reporters on Sunday evening (local time). “I think he probably has an excuse for that.” The Nvidia boss has rendered a service to the country.

According to the New York Times, Trump had been informed about a year ago that a woman with a close relationship with Huang had been recruited as a Chinese spy, according to US secret services. During surveillance of the woman from China, it was discovered that she had passed on information to Beijing, it said, citing security circles. According to the New York Times, Trump decided to do nothing about the matter.

The president did not want to stifle Nvidia's successful run and further complicate trade relations with Beijing, the newspaper wrote. Meanwhile, there were fears in US security circles that information about Trump's views on important political issues could have reached China through Huang. A secret paper on the topic was written under the supervision of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Trump's national security adviser.

According to initial reports, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spoke of baseless speculation and an attempt to slander China.

Huang confirmed in an email to Nvidia employees on Sunday that he had had an affair. “I owe my family and all of you an apology,” he wrote. “I was unfaithful to my wife.” The couple has been married for a good 40 years.

In the financial service Bloomberg's billionaire rankings, Huang is currently in tenth place with an estimated fortune of $155 billion, which mainly consists of Nvidia shares. In the email, Huang wrote to his family: “I love you.” He hopes that over time he can regain the family's trust. The couple's daughter and son also work at Nvidia.

Before Huang's admission, the Financial Times was the first to report the romance. Previously there had only been talk of a close relationship. In an initial reaction from Nvidia a few days ago, it was said that these were normal contacts with a representative of a customer company.

Huang had personally told reporters from Bloomberg, for example, that the contacts with the woman were just a normal customer relationship. The woman named in media reports was employed by the company Megaspeed, which had bought Nvidia chips.

There have been recurring differences between Huang and the US government over restrictions on the supply of advanced AI chips to China. The Nvidia boss argues that bans damage Nvidia's dominance and thus also the US's pioneering role because they would accelerate the development of China's own technology. The US government, on the other hand, has been trying for years to slow down Chinese progress in artificial intelligence by blocking deliveries of high-performance chips from Nvidia, among others.

Megaspeed was already suspected last year of being a corporate shell through which Nvidia chips could be trafficked to China. In October 2025, Republican Senator Tom Cotton called on the US Department of Commerce to investigate such information. Accordingly, Megaspeed stopped purchases of Nvidia chips in the summer of that year following investigations by authorities in Malaysia and Singapore.