Jensen Huang steps down as Nvidia CEO over affair with alleged Chinese spy

Huang steps down

Jensen Huang stepped down as chief executive of Nvidia on Thursday, 12 November 2026, after an affair with Alice Huang, whom US intelligence services believe is a Chinese spy. According to De Morgen, Huang has acknowledged the relationship, and he had led the chipmaker for 33 years. Nvidia announced on 12 November that its chief financial officer, Colette Kress, will serve as interim chief executive while keeping her finance role. The board has begun searching for a permanent successor and is weighing internal and external candidates, but it has set no deadline and no selection committee. Donald Trump has argued that former Apple chief executive Tim Cook would be the right choice, although no source indicates Cook is interested.

Alice Huang and the Singapore probe

Alice Huang is a former director of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based cloud computing firm that uses Nvidia chips in data centres across Southeast Asia. Singapore police opened an investigation in February 2025 into Megaspeed and several other companies suspected of circumventing or violating export controls. No charges were laid, but Singapore's home ministry said she was barred from the city-state in February 2026 for providing inaccurate information meant to downplay her role at Megaspeed. Megaspeed said it was investigating whether it had complied with export controls on sensitive chips, and Beijing has denied the spying allegations. Neighbours told AFP they had not seen anyone enter the Singapore office for months, and the office of subsidiary Speedmatrix in Johor, Malaysia, was also empty.

The husband and the Shanghai company

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, Alice Huang is married to Kang Wei, a Chinese businessman in his early 50s, who may have introduced her to Jensen Huang. The Journal's claims could not be independently verified. Kang reportedly worked as a fund manager before founding Shanghai Hexi, which invested in technology companies, including gaming firms. The commercial register lists Alice Huang from 2016, when she reportedly co-managed the company with Kang. China's securities regulator fined Kang and Shanghai Hexi in 2018, and Kang reportedly challenged the penalty without success. In early 2026 he was reportedly detained in Shanghai in a stock manipulation probe, while Beijing rejects the spying allegations as a smear campaign.

Export controls and the commerce secretary

Pressure is mounting on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who is responsible for enforcing chip export restrictions. El Mundo reports that some advisers to Trump have blamed him for the affair, and some political allies had earlier suggested removing him. The White House said in a statement that Trump retains full confidence in Lutnick and did not respond to further requests for comment. Critics say his department obstructed efforts to stop US AI chip shipments to Southeast Asia. Volkskrant, citing a New York Times investigation, reports that Nvidia's H200 chip, now allowed for legitimate Chinese buyers, has reached firms with military and government ties through shell companies. Last year tens of thousands of Chinese companies needed a US licence to buy certain chips, and China then halted rare earth exports to the United States.

Congress and shareholders

Republican senator John Thune said Congress would need to investigate Huang's relationship with the alleged spy, which he described as sensible given its nature. Brian Mast, who chairs the House foreign affairs committee, is preparing a subpoena to compel Huang to testify, while John Moolenaar, who chairs the House committee on China, is working to set a date. Republican lawmakers said negotiations are under way for a closed-door session in the coming days. Shareholders have sued Nvidia for concealing the affair, and Volkskrant reports that the company's market value fell by 312 billion euros after the news. El País notes that Nvidia supplies about 90% of the chips used in data centre servers that train advanced AI models, which makes its leadership a national security matter.