Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been getting around a bit. He had a girlfriend on the side and it’s hit the papers.
This is not anyone’s business — except that the alleged girlfriend is allegedly a spy for China. And the US alleges she got Jensen to sell Nvidia chips to China, against US sanctions.
Jensen announced to the entire Nvidia staff that he’d had an affair. He mentions at the end the small detail: [Nvidia]
Regarding the national security concerns raised in news reports, NVIDIA’s Board of Directors has initiated an independent investigation. I support the investigation and will cooperate fully.
Good to hear.
Alice Huang — no relation — is a Chinese citizen working at Singapore company Megaspeed. A memo was going around the Trump administration in spring this year that Alice was not just someone Jensen spent a lot of time with, but a spy for China’s Ministry of State Security. [NYT, archive]
Most of this was already covered in a NYT story from the week before. [NYT, archive]
I’ve heard journalist gossip that they had some idea of all this since May.
The US government, including President Trump personally, has known all about Alice Huang for months. Though I certainly wouldn’t presume Nvidia’s White House Ballroom donations had anything to do with Trump thinking Jensen’s a great guy who can do no wrong.
The memo claim is that China wanted Alice to talk Jensen into selling them the latest Nvidia chips, despite the Biden era US sanctions against selling them to China.
Jensen wants to sell chips. Selling chips is what he does! He would be delighted to sell chips to China, if he was allowed to. And he’ll also sell the chips even if he isn’t allowed to.
We’ve known since at least 2025 that Nvidia chips have been pouring through Singapore into China. [FT, 2025, archive]
Bloomberg reported in December last year about Alice Huang’s Megaspeed buying tons of Nvidia chips, which they rent to Chinese cloud Alibaba — but they buy more chips than anyone could find. [Bloomberg, 2025, archive]
Alice Huang was pitching to Chinese companies in 2025 that Megaspeed could get them the Nvidia chips they needed. [FT, archive]
Trump knew all of this, but it’s fine.
In fact, the US Commerce Department was investigating Nvidia and Megaspeed in 2025. Then Nvidia called up and they transferred the investigation to the Justice Department — where nothing happened. [NYT, archive]
I can only surmise that someone in the administration is finally embarrassed enough to do something about this and isn’t willing to let Trump cover for Nvidia any longer. And Jensen and Nvidia are about to be run through the wringer.
Three Republican congressmen have called Jensen in to talk to them tomorrow about Alice Huang, China, and US national security. [press release]
What happens next?
How safe is Jensen in his job? The Nvidia stock price went down on Monday and it’s stayed down today. But Nvidia’s stock price has always been volatile.
Jensen has 100% done the job of a CEO. He can point at his track record. He’s made a ton of money. He’s sent the stock price up. He’s surfed the bubble expertly.
Also, Jensen is a bit hard to fire. He runs Nvidia very personally. He’s not really replaceable in Nvidia’s structure and he doesn’t have an obvious successor at the company.
Jensen not revealing the affair — is that securities fraud? The stock price sure went down. The problem is not the girlfriend — it’s the coverup.
Nvidia has not listed a 10-Q risk factor: “our CEO thinks he’s cool and he may start getting around.” Even Facebook listed as a risk factor Mark Zuckerberg doing martial arts and getting kicked in the head for a hobby. [CNBC, 2024]
In a divorce, Jensen’s wife Lori would almost certainly get half the assets. Jensen’s net worth would drop below a hundred billion!
It’s not public news yet, but I’m told by a pretty good source that Lori does want a divorce. This again is mostly nobody else’s business, but Nvidia will have to report that much stock moving.
You all have one question: will the AI bubble be shaken?
If Jensen has to quit Nvidia, that’ll send the stock price through the floor. Jensen did all the deals. Jensen arranged the circular financing that keeps all the AI numbers looking good — if only for the moment. Jensen is personally load bearing for the bubble.
Without Jensen Huang at Nvidia, the AI bubble is in trouble. Could be an early pop? We’ll see if my guess of 2027 for the crash was too late.
Update: well, I was dead wrong. News of a second affair has come out, in this case with one of his direct reports. And if there’s two, there’s ten. Wall Street Journal says Nvidia wants Jensen out. [NYT, archive; WSJ]