Nvidia's board has announced a probe following reports by the New York Times that Huang had engaged in a romantic relationship with a woman believed by US intelligence to be a Chinese spy. Despite the allegations, the board issued a statement on Sunday expressing "confidence in Jensen and his leadership team."
Sources told the BBC that Huang's removal is unlikely due to the significant amount of money at stake and the lack of a clear successor for the 63-year-old tech boss.
Huang released a statement admitting to the affair, saying, "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."
The woman involved, identified as Alice Huang (also known as Huang Le), was reportedly a top executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company. The New York Times reports that US officials concluded she was recruited to spy by China's top intelligence agency. Surveillance reportedly revealed communications between her and an American citizen, who was later identified as Huang through a process known as "unmasking".
When asked if Nvidia was aware of intelligence concerns, a company spokesperson told the BBC that they were not, stating, "We trust that if we were the target of a genuine threat, the US government would have notified us."
Huang, who has an estimated fortune of $155bn according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has long been a central figure in US-China tech tensions. While he has maintained a close relationship with Donald Trump, the president stated he has not spoken to Huang since the investigation emerged. Trump told reporters he knows Huang is a "fine person" who has "done an amazing job for our country," but added, "you never know what's going on."
The scandal may provide context for why Huang has failed to secure a US-approved way for Nvidia to sell all but its most advanced chips to China. Despite his "shuttle diplomacy" between Washington and Beijing, Nvidia has remained largely locked out of the lucrative Chinese market since 2022.
Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993, is described by biographer Stephen Witt as a "tech visionary of the likes of Steve Jobs" who was responsible for creating the modern AI hardware market. Witt noted that Huang has gone to "great lengths to present himself as a family man," praising his wife, Lori, and their two children, both of whom work for Nvidia.
