Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns Amid Scandal Involving Suspected Spy

Jensen Huang stepped down as president, CEO, and board member of Nvidia effective immediately on Thursday. The resignation came after reports revealed he had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman whom US authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. The board met on Wednesday to discuss his potential removal after learning of the relationship. Officials said the board also learned that Huang had an extramarital affair with a senior executive who reported to him directly.

Nvidia is worth $4 trillion, and Huang’s exit creates uncertainty for the company and the wider artificial intelligence industry. Huang helped build the current AI ecosystem by reinvesting Nvidia’s cash into cloud providers, suppliers, and major research labs. Investors were already nervous about the high cost of AI development and rising debt at large tech companies. The sudden leadership change adds to those concerns.

The incident also puts pressure on US chip export policy. Huang had worked to keep Nvidia chips accessible in China and maintained a close relationship with President Donald Trump. Trump said on Sunday that Huang had done an amazing job for the country. He added that Huang told him he did not know the woman he was seeing was a spy.

Alice Huang is the woman at the center of the scandal. Much of her background is unconfirmed, but some details have emerged. The Chinese government denied she was a spy, calling the allegations purely unsubstantiated and an attempt to smear China. According to a Washington Post report on Thursday, Alice Huang worked as a journalist for Hunan TV and CCTV before moving into finance. A private equity database and a social media post from Shanghai Hexi Investment Management support this timeline, though no public records confirm her time at those broadcasters.

Bai Jie, a former news anchor with over 2 million followers on Weibo, said on Monday that she knew Alice Huang when they were both journalists. Bai claimed she knew Alice was formidable back then. Hours later, Bai deleted the post and denied making the statement. Her account was banned shortly after the denial.

Alice Huang later became deputy general manager at Shanghai Hexi, a private equity firm, during the 2010s. She was also listed as a legal representative for Shanghai Longteng, a tech firm. When Washington Post reporters called Shanghai Longteng’s public phone numbers, staff said they had the wrong number.

In 2023, Alice Huang joined Megaspeed International, a Singapore subsidiary of a Chinese gaming company. The company later spun off and shifted its business to lending computing power from data centers using Nvidia chips. Megaspeed became one of the largest buyers of Nvidia chips in Southeast Asia. Its assets grew from $33 million in 2023 to $3 billion in 2024.

The rapid growth of Megaspeed raised suspicions that the company was routing chips to China in violation of US export controls. A Washington Post report cited US intelligence sources that said Alice Huang was recruited by the Ministry of State Security, Beijing’s spy agency, at some point. The timing of her recruitment and her relationship with Jensen Huang remains unclear. According to Bloomberg, Alice Huang has returned to Beijing, though it is unknown when or why she traveled.