Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has admitted to an extramarital relationship with a business executive whom US officials reportedly believe was working for Chinese intelligence, a revelation that sets up a test for shares of the world’s most valuable company when US trading resumes on Monday, the first session since the admission. It also comes as the company’s board has opened an independent investigation into the matter.

In a draft email to staff obtained by Axios, Huang apologised to his family and to employees, writing, “I was unfaithful to my wife.” He said he took full responsibility for falling short of his duties to the company, to its board and to its shareholders.

The woman at the centre of the story is Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company and an Nvidia customer. She is not related to the Nvidia chief executive. Earlier reporting, citing US officials, said American intelligence had identified her as an asset recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security. According to those reports, she was tasked with gathering information from Huang and pushing for wider Chinese access to Nvidia’s advanced chips. Beijing has rejected the allegations as groundless, and none of the reporting has shown that Huang knowingly passed on sensitive information.

Board opens independent investigation

Nvidia’s board responded on Sunday by opening an independent investigation into the relationship, overseen by a committee of independent directors and conducted with the assistance of outside counsel — the customary setup when a board examines conduct by its own chief executive. The board said it had no reason to believe that national security or company secrets had been compromised, but added that the inquiry would examine all available information. Huang will remain chief executive and has agreed to cooperate with the review.

The admission marks a sharp shift from the company’s earlier public stance. Ever since the first report surfaced in late October, Nvidia had described the contacts as routine dealings with a regional customer, noting that its chief executive meets thousands of customer executives each year. Nvidia shares fell around 3% on the day after that first report came out.

Pressure builds in Washington

Republican chairs of House committees covering China, foreign affairs and intelligence have asked Huang for a briefing on the relationship and on Nvidia’s safeguards against espionage. President Donald Trump, who has relied on Huang as an adviser on artificial intelligence, has so far left open whether that advisory role will continue. The interest from Washington extends past the personal story: US export controls already restrict the sale of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China, an area where the chief executive’s standing with policymakers has direct commercial weight for the company.

Three key risks for Nvidia shares

Monday’s US session is the first chance for Nvidia shares to trade on both the admission and the board inquiry, and the short-term risk leans lower. Three pressure points stand out. The first is key-person and governance risk at a founder-led company while an investigation is open. The second is Washington scrutiny that could cloud Huang’s role in shaping chip policy. The third is the China export question, if officials decide his influence on access to Beijing has been compromised.

Nvidia’s heavy weighting in major stock indexes, reflecting its position as the leading supplier of processors for AI computing, means that a sharp move in its shares would also weigh on the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 and AI-linked chip names. Offsetting those risks, leadership is unchanged and nothing so far touches demand, supply or earnings, which means the selling could fade unless the story escalates further.

What to watch next

For investors, the near-term question is whether this remains a governance and headline story or develops into something that directly touches Nvidia’s leadership or its access to China. The next markers to watch are further reporting on what information, if any, ultimately changed hands, the findings of the board’s inquiry and any congressional briefing.

Taken together, Huang’s admission turns a disputed intelligence story into a confirmed personal one. That leaves Nvidia’s board, Congress and investors weighing whether the fallout stays reputational or starts to touch leadership and China policy.