Was Jensen Huang targeted by a spying operation? NVIDIA investigates as shares tumble on Wall Street

The board entrusted the investigation to a committee of independent directors assisted by outside counsel. In its 8 November statement, it said it had no reason at this stage to believe that NVIDIA secrets or US national security had been compromised. It reiterated its confidence in Jensen Huang and his team. This was the board’s assessment at the outset of the investigation. It has yet to publish any findings.

In a separate message to employees, Jensen Huang acknowledged an affair and pledged to cooperate fully. He did not name the other person. His message confirms a matter of private conduct. It does not establish that an intelligence operation took place or that confidential information was passed on.

On X, Pirat Nation links that admission to the suspicions surrounding Alice Huang. Alice Huang’s name comes from the press investigation and the US lawmakers’ letter. It does not appear in Jensen Huang’s email to employees.

The matter was public before the weekend. On 29 October, The New York Times reported that US authorities had examined the ties between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, who is associated with the Singaporean company Megaspeed. According to the newspaper, US intelligence agencies suspected her of gathering intelligence for Beijing. Reuters said it could not independently verify those allegations. On 9 November, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun rejected them and accused those behind them of trying to discredit China.

A letter dated 4 November, made public the following day, sets out what US lawmakers want to know. John Moolenaar, Brian Mast and Rick Crawford, who chair three House committees, are seeking answers about contacts with Alice Huang and the company’s safeguards against espionage. They propose a joint closed-door briefing on 18 November and ask for a response or an alternative date by the 11th. The letter is an invitation. It does not confirm that Jensen Huang will appear that day.

NVIDIA shares closed at $200.13 on Wednesday 4 November. By the close the next day, they were worth $181.60. The stock plunged 9.26% in a single session, a drop of $18.53 per share.

Across all NVIDIA shares, that $18.53 drop amounts to around $447 billion in market value. To estimate the figure, we multiplied the price decline by the 24.1 billion shares outstanding on 21 August, as reported by NVIDIA in its quarterly filing with the SEC. The estimate assumes that the share count remained stable between the two closes. It measures the change in the value the stock market assigns to the company.

On Friday 6 November the shares recovered 2.78% to close at $186.64. NVIDIA’s board announced its investigation on Sunday the 8th, three days after Thursday’s fall.

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On 5 November the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52%, the S&P 500 lost 4.36% and the Dow Jones shed 3.44%. NVIDIA fell more sharply than any of the three indices in a session that saw widespread selling across technology stocks. The first reports about Jensen Huang had already appeared, but the board had yet to announce its decision.

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At 7am in New York on Monday (1pm in Paris), The Washington Post reported that the shares were already down more than 5% in pre-market trading from Friday’s close. The decline continued during the session. In its market update at 11.45am New York time (5.45pm in Paris), Reuters reported that NVIDIA was down 6.2% while the Nasdaq Composite was up 2.34%. Those prices, recorded before the close, show the stock moving against the wider market after the announcement.

The market reaction extends beyond the story of a private relationship partly because the executive steering NVIDIA’s strategy remains at the helm of a key supplier of AI infrastructure. Its accelerators can be found in machines such as the GB300-equipped ASUS workstation. The documents made public do not identify any chip model or technical file whose contents were allegedly passed on.