- Beijing dismisses allegations as "unsubstantiated" and a smear campaign against China
- US lawmakers seek answers on whether sensitive technology was exposed as China dismisses spy claims as ‘groundless’
- Controversy comes ahead of APEC summit in China, where Trump and Xi expected to discuss trade, technology
US tech giant Nvidia, the world's second-most valuable publicly traded company after Apple and a leading supplier of chips powering the global artificial intelligence boom, has found itself at the epicenter of a national security storm.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has acknowledged having an extramarital relationship with a Chinese businesswoman whom US intelligence officials reportedly believe was recruited to gather information for Beijing.
The company announced an independent investigation Sunday, while US lawmakers have demanded answers about whether sensitive technology or information may have been exposed.
Beijing on Monday dismissed the allegations as “unsubstantiated” and “nothing but smears against China.”
“The so-called Chinese spy allegation is groundless. It is nothing but a smear against China,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.
The controversy comes just days before US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in China, where trade and technology remain major issues between the world's two largest economies.
Here is what is known so far.
- What set off the scrutiny?
The case centers on Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman who worked as an executive at Singapore-based cloud computing company Megaspeed, a customer of Nvidia.
The story broke on Oct. 29. Citing people briefed on classified intelligence, The New York Times reported that US intelligence agencies had concluded Alice Huang was passing information to Beijing while developing a close relationship with Jensen Huang.
According to the report, US agencies had been monitoring her as part of a probe into whether Megaspeed was helping Chinese companies get around American export controls.
During that surveillance, they found she was in contact with an American citizen, later identified as the Nvidia chief.
The Times said Trump was briefed on the findings about a year ago but took no action. It also said Jensen Huang never received a so-called defensive briefing, a warning sometimes given to people targeted by foreign spies.
Further US media reports said that US intelligence believed she had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to obtain information about advanced American chip technology and potentially influence US policy on chip exports to China.
On Sunday, Jensen Huang acknowledged the affair in a message to Nvidia employees, apologizing to his family and colleagues.
"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," he wrote.
Huang also pledged to cooperate with Nvidia's investigation. “I support the investigation and will cooperate fully. I love our country and our company. I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America’s national security."
The board said a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, would oversee the inquiry.
“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,” it said.
The board added that it still had confidence in Huang, who will keep leading the company during the probe.
In response to media reports, Beijing has denied any espionage.
- Who are the people and companies involved?
Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California, designs graphics processing units, or GPUs, the chips that have become the backbone of modern AI systems. Demand for them made Nvidia the first company to pass $5 trillion in market value, in October 2025.
Jensen Huang, 63, was born in Taiwan, moved to the US as a child and co-founded Nvidia in 1993. He has led the company ever since.
He has become one of the most influential business figures in Washington, building close ties with President Donald Trump and lobbying against strict limits on chip sales to China.
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is a Chinese citizen and is not related to Jensen Huang.
According to The New York Times, she spent much of her career in mainland China, including as a television reporter for Chinese state media and as a private banker.
She became a senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that buys Nvidia chips, builds data centers in Southeast Asia and rents out their computing power.
The Times reported that Megaspeed was formed in 2023 after splitting from a Chinese gaming company.
Citing trade data, the newspaper said a Malaysian affiliate of Megaspeed bought at least $4.8 billion of AI equipment containing Nvidia chips between June 2024 and February 2026.
- What does it mean for US-China relations?
The controversy comes at a delicate moment for the world’s two largest economies, which are competing for leadership in AI while trying to stabilize trade ties.
Huang has also been a fixture of US-China summitry. He joined Trump’s delegation to Beijing in May for talks with President Xi Jinping. He was also a guest at the White House state dinner Trump hosted for Xi in September.
The next meeting between the two leaders is expected at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19, where technology is likely to be on the agenda.
Speaking to reporters Sunday before leaving Florida, Trump was asked whether Huang would join him on the trip. “I don’t know, but I’d certainly take him,” he said.
US president also said he had not discussed the allegations with Huang but defended the Nvidia chief.
“I just know he's a fine person, but you never know what is going on,” Trump said, adding that Huang had “done an amazing job for our country.”
Huang faces a Nov. 11 deadline to tell House lawmakers whether he will attend the closed-door briefing.
The requested briefing falls on Nov. 18, the opening day of the APEC summit in Shenzhen.
