Nvidia CEO Huang admits affair amid rumors of China spy ties

US tech giant Nvidia said on Sunday it would investigate claims that its CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by "foreign intelligence efforts."

Multiple media outlets, including The Financial Times, recently reported on American intelligence sharing information on Huang's extramarital affair with a Chinese woman. The woman, according to US intelligence sources, had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security.

The reports identified her as Alice Huang, an executive for Singapore-based company Megaspeed. The US is investigating the company over suspicions that it was helping Beijing bypass export restrictions and obtain cutting-edge AI chips. According to The New York Times, the company has bought Nvidia chips worth billions of dollars in the last two years.

US lawmakers have invited the Nvidia chief to brief them on the reports.

On Sunday, Nvidia's top executive admitted to being "unfaithful" to his wife of 40 years.

"My actions hurt her and our children," Jensen Huang wrote in an email sent to Nvidia staff. "There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."

He also said he was he committed to protecting the company and "supporting America's national security."

Huang was born in Taipei and spent part of his childhood in Taiwan before moving to the US. In 1993, he and two other people launched Nvidia, a company that grew to become a leading manufacturer of computer graphic cards and then an essential supplier of computer chips in the AI boom.

The 63-year-old Nvidia CEO is one of the richest people in the world, according to the Forbes magazine, with his $162.2 billion (€145.5 billion) net worth as of Sunday putting him roughly on par with globally renowned investor Warren Buffet.

In their statement, Nvidia's board of directors said Huang will remain the head of the US-based company while the probe is taking place.

Huang "fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it," according to their statement.

The board said a group of "independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation."

At the same time, the heads of the $4.5 trillion company said they had "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised."