What we know

• Huang’s future on the line: Nvidia’s board is meeting to discuss the fate of CEO Jensen Huang, two sources told CNN. There was an expectation among Trump administration insiders that he would be ousted, the sources said. Analysts are now questioning who could replace the CEO, since the company has no clear public succession plan.

• Another affair: The meeting follows reports that Huang had a relationship with an Nvidia employee. The CEO was already under scrutiny after reports of an affair with a different woman who was allegedly working as a spy for China, with the board hiring a law firm to investigate.

• Stocks tumble: Shares in Nvidia, a major engine of US economic growth which has powered the AI boom, fell sharply in after-hours trading.

Updates

China’s internet is riveted by the Jensen Huang saga, too

China’s internet has been lit up with discussion of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, with posts about the scandal around the tech mogul capturing billions of views on China’s Weibo, an X-like social media platform, in recent days.

Much of that is down to Huang’s celebrity status in China. The billionaire is a household name and has attracted huge attention during past visits to the country, where images of him eating noodles and sipping douzhi’er, the fermented soybean drink, have gone viral.

Many Chinese internet users expressed understanding about Huang’s behavior, with some also rallying around Alice Huang, a woman with whom he reportedly had a relationship. Alice Huang (no relation) has been accused by the US of working as a spy for China. Beijing has denied the allegations.

In videos posted on the platform RedNote, some users dissected outfits worn by businesswoman Huang and her interactions with the Nvidia chief.

Chinese state media earlier this week slammed reports that Nvidia’s Huang was the target of Chinese espionage, framing the allegations as part of an effort to stir up US-China confrontation while also blaming racism and McCarthyism.

After reports later emerged that Huang had another extramarital affair – with an Nvidia employee – some social media users picked up the thread, with one joking beneath a post about that affair: “honeytrap.”

CNN’s Fred He contributed to this report.

Unclear whether Alice Huang was working for China's top intelligence agency, analyst says

Though US officials believe Alice Huang was working as a Chinese spy while conducting a relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (of no relation), questions remain about how she came to occupy that role – and whether she had been a spy from the beginning of their involvement.

“No one seems to have suggested that she herself was an MSS (China’s Ministry of State Security) officer,” said former CIA counterintelligence analyst Peter Mattis, now president of defense policy think tank The Jamestown Foundation.

It’s hard to tell whether she was already working for Chinese intelligence when she first met Jensen, he added.

Beijing has called the accusations of spying an attempt to malign and smear China.

The FBI raised concerns to lawmakers that Alice Huang might be feeding information to China nearly a year ago, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

Alice Huang’s current whereabouts are unclear — and she has made no public statement or appearance since last year, when reports of the suspicions surrounding her relationship with Jensen Huang first broke.

Southeast Asia offers China a loophole for buying banned US chips, analyst says

The US has export controls on many advanced AI chips, banning their sale to China, but an analyst told CNN that some Chinese companies have found a way around it: going through Southeast Asia.

The Nvidia spy scandal has shone a spotlight on this loophole. The alleged spy whom Jensen Huang reportedly had a relationship with was a director at Singapore-based cloud computing and data center provider Megaspeed in 2023.

Trump officials have long harbored concerns that Megaspeed has circumvented US law and funneled advanced chips into China. Megaspeed has denied any wrongdoing and said it is “compliant and legal.”

Megaspeed has purchased more than $4 billion worth of Nvidia’s semiconductors, by some analyst estimates.

Chip shipments can pass through Southeast Asia before reaching China because “there is minimal scrutiny on US air data,” he added. “You can bring things into Singapore, Malaysia, Central and Southeast Asia, and then move those goods, sometimes through Thailand, into China.”

The stakes are high: the chips powering the AI race could determine who is the world’s greatest power, more than traditional weaponry or military might, said Taipei-based technology journalist Tim Culpan.

Jensen Huang's future in the balance after reports of another affair. Here's the latest

Nvidia’s board is meeting to discuss the future of founder and CEO Jensen Huang, two sources told CNN, after reports that he had an affair with Kimberly Powell, vice president of healthcare at the chip behemoth.

There was some expectation among Trump administration insiders that Huang would be ousted, the sources said.

Mounting scandal: Earlier this week, Nvidia’s board said it would investigate whether Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort” amid reports that he had a separate relationship with Alice Huang, a woman US officials believe to be a Chinese spy. The CEO apologized Sunday for an extramarital affair, although he did not name the other party. Here’s what we know about Alice Huang.

Nvidia’s Code of Conduct lays out how employees, business partners and managers are expected to act with integrity and avoid conflicts of interest.

Stocks tumble: Nvidia shares dropped sharply in after-hours trading. The tech giant has shed more than $300 billion in market value this week alone.

Trump’s take: President Donald Trump has stood by Huang, saying Monday that he spoke with the CEO, who denied knowing the woman was allegedly a spy. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed Trump on intelligence that Huang was in a relationship with a potential Chinese spy as they traveled to China, a source told CNN. Trump on Monday publicly denied knowing about the allegations at that time.

The scandal comes as Trump prepares for a trip to Shenzhen, the Chinese tech and innovation hub, where he is expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The allegations that China’s spy service targeted Huang will have far-reaching implications for the US-China race to dominate AI. Here’s why.

Who could lead Nvidia next? Analysts are now questioning who could replace the CEO, since the company has no clear public succession plan in place.

Here’s a timeline of the scandal, and the major company milestones that preceded it.

CNN’s Hadas Gold, John Towfighi, Stephanie Yang, Anna Cooban, Clare Duffy, Jessie Yeung, Isaac Yee, Kylie Atwood and Kevin Liptak contributed reporting.

Who's on the board of directors discussing Huang's fate?

All eyes are on Nvidia’s board of directors, which is meeting late Wednesday night to discuss the fate of scandal-hit CEO Jensen Huang – with the company’s shares dropping sharply, and no clear successor.

The board is made up of 11 directors, including Huang himself. In an unusual arrangement, there is no board chair, according to the lineup on Nvidia’s website.

The directors include heavy hitters from various sectors – former executives from global brands like Taco Bell, Pepsi-Cola and the NFL – as well as academics, scientists and financial leaders.

Four of them have been with the company, and known Huang, since the 1990s. The others joined between 2013 to 2026.

The fact that many directors share a long history with Huang has raised questions about whether they can make objective decisions about his future at the company and the ongoing investigation, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, Nvidia’s board announced it had retained high-profile New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to lead the investigation into whether Huang was a target of a foreign intelligence effort.

Jensen Huang has long been a bridge between US and China

Nvidia chief Jensen Huang may have unwittingly found himself in the middle of a spy scandal involving Chinese spies and American chips – but he has long positioned himself as a bridge between the two rival countries and top economies.

Huang moved from Taiwan to Thailand as a child and then to the United States – a background that gave him the language and cultural skills needed to navigate business both in the US and in China.

As Huang grew closer to President Donald Trump, he also gained visibility with Beijing; when Chinese leader Xi Jinping made a state visit in September, Huang was among several top tech executives having dinner at the head table with Trump and Xi.

And Huang joined Trump during a layover in Alaska on the way to Beijing in May, accompanying him and his top aides on Air Force One. A source told CNN that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had briefed Trump on intelligence that Huang was in a relationship with a potential Chinese spy before the Nvidia CEO got on the plane – though Trump on Monday publicly denied knowing about the allegations at that time.

It was during that visit to Beijing that Huang charmed much of the Chinese internet – and watchers around the world – when he took himself on an impromptu food tour of the Chinese capital.

“Jensen, how do you like China?” a woman is heard asking him in one video. The Nvidia CEO responded: “I love China.”

Trump is set to visit China again next week. When asked on Sunday whether he would bring Huang along on his trip, the president responded, “I don’t know, but I’d certainly take him.” It’s not clear if Huang plans to go.

Democrats urge Trump officials to preserve Nvidia documents, raise questions of inaction

Two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons, issued a letter to several top Trump administration officials on Wednesday, asking them to preserve all Nvidia-related documents – and questioning whether they had known about the allegations surrounding Jensen Huang and failed to act.

The letter was addressed to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, urging their three respective departments to preserve all documents “regarding the export of NVIDIA’s advanced AI chips to China or to entities that may divert such chips to China.”

Huang is under intense scrutiny after reports that he had a romantic relationship with Alice Huang, of no relation, who was working as a spy for China.

They also asked the officials to brief Congress on what risks the alleged foreign intelligence operation could have posed to the US’ national security.

For Taiwan, a mutually beneficial relationship just got complicated

Jensen Huang has spent years cultivating a personal relationship with Taiwan, the island of his birth.

Whenever he visits, he eats at local restaurants, speaks comfortably in Taiwanese Hokkien as well as Mandarin, poses for endless selfies and signs autographs – including at least once across a female fan’s chest – turning routine business trips into media events.

For many here, Nvidia’s success feels partly their own – reflected in the surging stock prices in Taiwan and the booming export figures driven by huge demand for AI.

And Huang – who was born in the city of Tainan and spent the first five years of his life on the island – is one of their own. He has lavishly praised Taiwan and given it massive global visibility.

Tim Culpan, a technology journalist who has known Huang for more than 25 years, says the affair itself isn’t necessarily what troubles Taiwanese people most; it’s the reported connection to Chinese intelligence.

Up until now it’s been a mutually beneficial relationship. Taiwan produces the advanced chips underpinning Nvidia’s dominance, while facing daily pressure from Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory. The possibility that someone close to Huang was working for Chinese intelligence touches a particularly raw nerve.

There’s money at stake, too. Many Taiwanese own shares in Nvidia or its local suppliers. TSMC – the island’s crown jewel, which produces more than 90% of the world’s advanced microchips – makes up roughly 40% of Taiwan’s benchmark stock index alone.

Nvidia is also investing more than $1 billion in a new Taipei headquarters, expected to open in 2030 – a major bet on Taiwan that city officials insist remains on track despite the scandal.

Huang’s popularity won’t disappear overnight. But in Taiwan, where business, technology and homeland security are inseparable, this is no longer just a story about his private life.

Why Nvidia’s chips are so sought after by China

The allegations that China’s spy service targeted Jensen Huang through a woman he had an affair with will have far-reaching implications for the US-China race to dominate AI.

At the center of this fight are Nvidia’s AI chips, which China has long sought to access.

For years, the US government has restricted China’s access to advanced American technology in an effort to slow its progress on AI. During his first term, Trump imposed restrictions on Chinese giant Huawei; the Biden administration introduced further export controls on US-made semiconductors, advanced chips and chip-making equipment.

Since then, China’s chip technology has made significant strides. Experts say Huawei has developed chips with performance comparable to — and in some cases surpassing — some of Nvidia’s chips.

Perhaps sensing that China is getting ahead anyway, regardless of export controls, the Trump administration reversed its stance last year and approved the sale of a key Nvidia chip, the H20. At the time, Trump argued the H20 was “obsolete” as it lags behind Nvidia’s more advanced Blackwell or H100 chips – which are still blocked.

Despite China’s progress, Nvidia’s chips remain highly coveted by Chinese companies, and are sometimes smuggled in. Alice Huang is alleged to have helped facilitate this smuggling.

Just last month, a Chinese university linked with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) bought two of Nvidia’s powerful H200 chips from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology, circumventing a US-imposed blocklist on the institution, according to a filing on the university’s website.

Reuters first reported the purchase. Neither the Northwestern Polytechnical University nor Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology responded to phone calls from CNN seeking comment.

Timeline of events for Nvidia and its embattled CEO, Jensen Huang

Nvidia’s board is reportedly meeting Wednesday evening to discuss CEO Jensen Huang’s future as its leader, following a rough few days for the embattled CEO. Here is how Huang, and Nvidia, got here.

Wall Street weighs in on Nvidia

Nvidia shares (NVDA) were down 8.6% in after-hours trading as of 8 p.m. ET as Wall Street digests the developments surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

“If Jensen Huang is ousted as is expected, an already challenging environment for Nvidia investors and employees will become considerably more difficult,” Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, told CNN in an email.

“Nvidia is currently the most important company in the world,” he said. “The new CEO will need to make an extensive appraisal of the company and Jensen’s successor will not have the same latitude or deference to pursue circular deals and pursue aggressive sales tactics.”

Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives & Co., wrote in a note that he thinks “the writing is on the wall and Jensen’s days at Nvidia could be numbered.”

“While Jensen is the hearts and lungs of the Nvidia story… the company and its leading edge GPU technology will go on and it does not change the entrenched position Nvidia has in the AI Revolution chip arms race,” Ives said.

While Nvidia shares tumbled, shares of other chipmakers rose: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained 4.3% and Broadcom (AVGO) gained 2.4%.

Huang is at “the epicenter for deal making in the AI complex,” said Michael Monaghan, portfolio manager of the Founders 100 ETF, a fund focused on founder-led companies. “Without him, that goes away, and so it opens up more opportunities for AMD, more opportunities for [Broadcom].”

“If Jensen the kingmaker is gone, it could really become a more free-for-all playing field,” Monaghan told CNN. “We still need to see what the board’s going to do.”

Nvidia scandal comes before Trump's high-stakes trip to Shenzhen

Jensen Huang’s spy scandal and the spectacular fallout for Nvidia comes at a fraught time for US-China relations, and a sensitive one for the White House, as President Donald Trump prepares for a trip to Shenzhen.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit will take place next week in the southern Chinese tech and innovation hub, where Trump is expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the third time so far this year.

Bilateral relations remain fraught. A fragile trade truce between the world’s two biggest economies will expire in January, and analysts say the risk of additional tariffs and other trade barriers will continue to loom in the new year.

Other experts say that Trump might be more willing to play hard ball during future negotiations, now that the midterm elections are over, and Trump no longer has to worry about how Chinese countermeasure might sway voters.

At the Shenzhen summit, Xi and Trump may also hold a historic meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines. Last month, Trump said he was open to this idea, telling reporters: “We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization … I’m sure we’d talk about other things like trade too.”

"Jensen has created a black eye moment." Wall Street tech analyst says CEO likely must go

Dan Ives, one of the biggest AI bulls on Wall Street, says the “writing is on the wall” that Jensen Huang’s days leading Nvidia are likely numbered.

Ives cited The New York Times report that Huang had an affair with a direct report.

“The reality is that the old Jensen is now gone in the eyes of the public, customer and technology world,” the tech analyst wrote. “Nvidia likely now has to move on without Jensen at the helm, which seemed like a Twilight Zone episode narrative before Sunday afternoon when the news broke.”

Huang is widely viewed as irreplaceable and Nvidia failed to groom a successor who could step in, a decision that now looks highly questionable.

If the board pushes out Huang, it risks spooking already-rattled investors about who will steer the ship. With Huang in charge, Nvidia is worth $300 per share, compared with $225 without him, Ives says.

"We’re past the tipping point." Ex-SEC chair says Nvidia is now likely to oust Jensen Huang

The allegation that Nvidia’s Jensen Huang had a second affair is likely to force the board of directors to oust the rockstar CEO, former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler told CNN on Wednesday evening.

Gensler, now a professor at MIT, said Nvidia was already dealing with a massive public relation crisis caused by Huang’s admitted affair.

US officials have told CNN that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, who they have concluded is a Chinese spy.

Alice Huang was an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based Nvidia customer under investigation for allegedly diverting cutting-edge chips to China.

Gensler said Megaspeed appears to be a front company, masking its true backers. “It’s a cardboard cut-out of a company,” he said. “It’s like a stage front on a Hollywood lot.”

Nvidia has shed more than $300 billion in market value this week

The controversy surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has knocked the company’s stock, wiping off hundreds of billions of dollars in market value.

Nvidia shares were down 6.92% on the week as of Wednesday’s market close, erasing $311 billion in market value.

With Nvidia’s 8% after-hours decline, those market value losses are set to get steeper. From Wednesday’s closing share price, a drop of 8% would erase another $335 billion in market value.

Nvidia shares hit a record high on October 6, and the market value hit a peak of almost $5.8 trillion. Since then, shares have dropped more than 25% and the company has lost more than $1.5 trillion in market value.

Apple in recent weeks overtook Nvidia as the world’s largest company by market value.

Nvidia's Code of Conduct emphasizes ethical behavior, avoiding conflicts of interest

Nvidia’s Code of Conduct begins with a letter from CEO Jensen Huang saying that “the best and brightest can do their life’s work and build a great life and family” at the company.

Nvidia’s board is now weighing whether to replace Huang as CEO following reports about his extramarital relationships, including one with a woman believed to be a Chinese spy.

The document lays out how employees, business partners and managers are expected to act with integrity and avoid conflicts of interest. It notes that managers play a “special role” in “promoting equitable and ethical decisions, and fostering safe work environments.”

The document notes that violations of the code or Nvidia’s policies could lead to disciplinary action, including potential termination.

In its most recent proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nvidia wrote that its “Code of Conduct applies to all executive officers, directors, and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, and principal accounting officer.”

Jensen Huang spoke out against succession plans

Jensen Huang famously has never believed in succession planning, telling podcaster Lex Fridman earlier this year that it’s not because he thinks he’s “immortal,” but because he believes the best way to handle such concerns is to prepare everyone at the company.

He is also fond of poking fun at other CEOs, telling them that when their children are running their companies, Huang would still be running Nvidia.

In an interview filmed just a few weeks before the latest scandal broke, Huang told Bloomberg he hopes the “next leader of the company is already at the company.”

“Just as I can be fired the next CEO has to be hired,” he added. “I like it that way. I like that we can’t be overly complacent about our position inside the company and we can’t take it for granted, and you’re always vulnerable, you’re always earning it, you’re always striving to be better.”

How did Alice Huang become involved with Jensen Huang?

US officials suspect this woman was recruited by Chinese intelligence to target Jensen Huang. It comes as Huang had admitted to having an extramarital affair. These photos, video and travel records offer a new look at their relationship. Beijing has denied any alleged involvement and CNN’s attempts to reach her for comment have been unsuccessful.

It is unclear exactly where and when alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang met Nvidia chief Jensen Huang (no relation), but she had become something of a regular fixture in Jensen Huang’s business circles, appearing at his side at private and corporate events.

Records from US Customs and Border Protection show Alice Huang has visited the US ten times since 2017. The most recent trip was in March of last year, when she was photographed visiting Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara during the company’s annual conference.

In May 2025, the two attended a group dinner in Taipei during a tech conference and left in the same car.

Who is reported Chinese spy Alice Huang?

For someone suddenly generating international headlines, Alice Huang — the woman US officials believe was working as a Chinese spy while having an affair with Nvidia chief Jensen Huang (of no relation) — remains something of a mystery.

Her limited online footprint paints a picture of a journalist-turned tech power broker who held senior positions at financial firms in Asia.

• Her identity: US Customs and Border Patrol travel records obtained by CNN that correspond with Alice Huang’s social media posts in the US identify her as a 43-year-old Chinese citizen by the name of Huang Le.
• Former reporter: According to Chinese social media and databases tracking the career of Huang Le, she worked as a journalist for Chinese state television before pivoting to a career in finance.
• Finance jobs: One Chinese private-equity fund website said Huang had four years of experience in the media and eight in the securities industry, including at HSBC and Citic Securities. CNN has reached out to HSBC and Citic Securities for comment.
• Buying AI chips: From March to November of 2023, Huang was a director at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based cloud computing and data center provider that was originally incorporated as a Chinese video game developer. In the three years since, Megaspeed has become one of the largest buyers of Nvidia chips in Asia. Corporate records also indicate Megaspeed received funding from Chinese tech giant Alibaba, and the company has come under investigation for potentially providing Chinese companies with unauthorized access to US chips. Megaspeed has denied any wrongdoing.
• Where is she now? Her current whereabouts are unclear, and she has made no public statement or appearance since last year, when reports of the suspicions surrounding her relationship with Jensen Huang first broke. CNN has reached out to Megaspeed, Singapore’s government and Singaporean police.

Nvidia’s advantage in the AI chip race

Under Jensen Huang’s leadership, Nvidia was early to bet that graphics processing units — chips that were primarily used for processing video game graphics — would be critical for training AI models.

Nvidia now offers all the pieces needed for AI computing, including full packages for data centers that provide networking chips and software platforms that allow developers to tailor their code so that their apps can run more efficiently on Nvidia’s hardware.

That can make it difficult for longtime customers to switch to different chips and technology providers.