Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits affair with woman US sees as Chinese spy, FBI investigates

What US authorities allege

Jensen Huang, 63, co-founder and chief executive of Nvidia, has admitted an extramarital affair with a woman whom US authorities believe worked for China's intelligence service. Reporting in late October, cited by the New York Times, said US intelligence had concluded she passed information to Beijing. Huang confirmed the relationship in a message to staff on Sunday, 8 November, in which he wrote:

“I was unfaithful to my wife.”

In the same message he said Nvidia had launched an internal investigation. The woman works for Megaspeed, a Singapore-based Nvidia customer that Singaporean and US investigators are examining over allegations that it routed high-performance chips through data centres in Southeast Asia to China despite export controls. Her link to espionage has not been proven, and Beijing rejects the accusations.

Washington's response

The FBI is investigating the case, US President Donald Trump told a White House press conference. Trump said he believes Huang did not know the woman might be a Chinese spy, and he had already backed the chief executive after the affair came to light, describing him as a fine man who had served the United States well. Elon Musk defended Huang on X, calling him irreplaceable for the company, while his SpaceX AI unit is a large Nvidia customer. Nvidia's revenue in the current fiscal year is expected to pass $400 billion on the back of the AI boom, and analysts noted the company is built around its chief executive, who could be removed if the affair escalates.

Germany's warning on honeytraps

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) warned leaders in business, science and politics about honeytraps, which it described as a standard part of foreign intelligence services' repertoire. Targets are systematically selected and investigated, then pressured or drawn into conscious or unconscious cooperation, according to the agency. The warnings place particular emphasis on China, which the BfV says wants to expand its position as a global industrial and world power, build a 'world-class army' and enforce 'Chinese values' internationally. A spokesperson for the Federal Interior Ministry said a 'Venus trap' could also be considered for high-value targets.

Marc Henrichmann, chair of the Bundestag committee that oversees the intelligence services, said Chinese espionage was no longer an abstract threat:

“It cannot be ruled out that Chinese intelligence services deliberately try to build contacts into the management levels of German companies.”

He added that German companies and research institutions lead in many key technologies, which makes them an attractive target for foreign services.

Berlin and the coming weeks

On Monday, 9 November, a government spokesperson in Berlin said the government had noted the reports but could not comment on them. He added that the government applies the highest standards on the security of sensitive data, regardless of its partners. The affair is politically sensitive because the federal government and Nvidia agreed in mid-October to deepen cooperation on the industrial use of artificial intelligence in Germany. A House committee in Washington has invited Huang to a confidential briefing on 18 November, the day the APEC summit opens in Shenzhen, China. Trump could meet Xi Jinping there, and the affair would be hard to leave off the agenda if they do meet.