Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted to employees in a company-wide memo that he had been unfaithful to his wife, confirming for the first time the personal relationship at the center of weeks of reporting on his ties to a Chinese businesswoman U.S. intelligence officials suspect was working for Beijing. The admission came the same day Nvidia’s board announced it was launching an independent investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign espionage operation.
What The Memo Says
In a draft email to staff obtained by Axios, Huang wrote plainly about the toll of his actions on his family: “I owe my family and all of you an apology. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did.” Huang, who has been married to his wife Lori for 41 years, took what reports described as full responsibility for the affair, acknowledging that he had fallen short of his responsibilities to Nvidia’s employees, board, and shareholders.
He went on to frame his continued leadership of the company as something he now has to re-earn rather than take for granted: “Leading NVIDIA is the privilege of my life,” he wrote, adding that he remained “fully committed to NVIDIA” and would “work to earn back” employees’ confidence. On the national security questions swirling around the relationship, Huang said he backed the board’s decision to investigate and would cooperate with it fully.
The Investigation
Nvidia’s board said in a statement Sunday that a committee of independent directors, working with outside counsel, would oversee the investigation into reports that Huang had been the target of a Chinese intelligence operation. The board added that it currently has no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised, and said it retains confidence in Huang’s leadership. Nvidia’s head of public policy communications, John Rizzo, said separately that the disclosure “will not slow NVIDIA” and that Huang is committed to continuing as CEO without interruption.
The relationship at the heart of the inquiry is with Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company and Nvidia customer. The two are not related. U.S. officials believe Alice Huang was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security and tasked with pushing Jensen Huang to lobby Washington for looser restrictions on exporting Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to China, a position he has in fact publicly and repeatedly argued for. Surveillance reportedly traced the relationship back to at least June 2024, when the two were photographed together at a bar in Taipei around Computex, and again in 2025 at a restaurant outing in the same city.
Notably, Huang was never given the “defensive briefing” counterintelligence officials typically issue to people believed to be targeted by a foreign intelligence service, reportedly out of concern that warning him could tip off Alice Huang that she was under surveillance. The New York Times has also reported that President Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings roughly a year before they became public and did not act on them.
Pressure From Washington
The memo lands as Huang faces mounting scrutiny in Congress. Three House Republican committee chairs have asked him to appear for a closed-door briefing by November 18 on his relationship with Alice Huang and on Nvidia’s safeguards around sensitive information shared with customers. Senator Elizabeth Warren has separately pressed Huang and Nvidia’s board for answers. Megaspeed has said it is taking the matter seriously and has hired outside counsel to run its own internal investigation, while Singapore’s government and Beijing have both pushed back on elements of the reporting.
Nvidia shares dipped modestly in the days after the relationship first became public, though the stock has largely absorbed a string of China-related controversies through the year. The board’s investigation, rather than the affair itself, is what will determine the lasting fallout: whether any sensitive information moved through the relationship, and whether Huang — who has made himself one of Washington’s most influential voices on AI policy — can hold that position through it.
Full text of Jensen Huang’s Memo
Subject: A message to our company
I owe my family and all of you an apology.
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.
Throughout my life, my family has given me love and support. They deserve my honesty and loyalty. Instead, I let them down and damaged the life we built together. I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it.
To my wife and family: I love you. I know an apology cannot undo what I have done. I hope our family will heal and that, over time, I can earn back your trust.
To my colleagues at NVIDIA, including those I have worked alongside for decades, and to our board, partners, and shareholders around the world: you deserve better from me.
Leading NVIDIA is the privilege of my life. My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility. I am fully committed to NVIDIA and will work to earn back your confidence.
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. I love our country and our company, and I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America’s national security. I am proud and grateful to be an American.
My family bears no responsibility for my choices. I do. Please give them privacy.