Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang returned to the company's Santa Clara, California, offices and led his usual morning executive meeting on Monday, attempting to maintain a "business as usual" demeanor following his public acknowledgment of an affair with an individual suspected of being a Chinese spy.
Huang, 63, addressed his marital infidelity and apologized to employees during the closed-door meeting, according to CNBC. However, he did not take questions and quickly moved on to the day's agenda. He reportedly continued this pattern on Tuesday, just one week before Nvidia's quarterly earnings report.
The board of Nvidia has initiated an investigation into Huang's affair with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed. The investigation is being led by Joon Kim, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, who previously investigated sexual harassment allegations against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The FBI is also reportedly investigating the relationship.
Insiders described the atmosphere at Nvidia as "sad," with longtime employees struggling to reconcile the scandal with their perception of Huang as an idol. The company has seen its market value drop by over $400 billion this week as investors worry about the potential ousting of Huang, who is considered critical to Nvidia's leadership and has no clear succession plan.
During the course of the affair, which reportedly began in 2023, Huang had advocated for the lifting of US export restrictions to China. According to The Information, this led to shipments of at least $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia chips to Chinese firms. Alice Huang had allegedly built a network of companies aimed at acquiring these chips after they were banned by the Biden administration over national security concerns.
In December 2025, then-President Trump approved the sale of Nvidia's H200 chips to China, reversing the previous ban. Reports indicate Huang had attended a Mar-a-Lago dinner and contributed approximately $25 million to a Trump project. A government memo reportedly overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that Alice Huang was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security, a claim that China denies.
In a Sunday email to Nvidia staff, Huang admitted to the affair, apologizing to colleagues, shareholders, and his family. He has been married to his wife, Lori, for over 40 years, and their two children and son-in-law also work at Nvidia. Huang expressed hope for family healing and stated his intention to "work to earn back your confidence."