Nvidia will investigate CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with possible Chinese spy

Nvidia's board said on Sunday that it has opened an independent investigation after reports that chief executive Jensen Huang was the target of a Chinese intelligence operation, TechCrunch reports. The review will be run by independent directors working with outside lawyers.

Alongside the announcement, Nvidia published a message Huang sent to employees in which he admitted to an affair and apologized to his family and to the company's staff, board, partners and shareholders. TechCrunch identifies the other person as Alice Huang, a former executive at the Singapore-based chip company Megaspeed, though the message did not name her. A memo that circulated among U.S. policymakers earlier this year claimed she had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to spy on him.

The board said it has "no reason to believe" that national security or company secrets were compromised, that Huang supports the review and will cooperate with it, and that it retains confidence in him and his leadership team. Nvidia had earlier described the pair's interactions as not unusual and said it does not share classified information with customers.

The episode matters because Nvidia's chips sit at the center of the AI contest between the United States and China, which turns any question about access to its chief executive into a national-security matter as well as a corporate one.