Trump Calls Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang an ‘Honourable Guy’ and Says He Would Take Him on Asia Trip Amid Spy Probe
US President Donald Trump has publicly backed Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, calling him an “honourable guy” and saying he would “certainly” take him on his Asia trip later this month — even as Nvidia’s board investigates whether Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence operation.
Trump spoke to reporters on Sunday, 8 November, hours after Huang admitted to his employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife and Nvidia announced an independent investigation into the affair. The president said Huang should stay in charge of the world’s most valuable company and that he had not heard Huang had done “anything wrong”.
The case has turned into one of the biggest corporate and political stories of the year. It mixes a personal admission, claims of Chinese spying, America’s most important technology company, and the US government’s controls on advanced computer chips. Here is what we know so far, in simple terms.
What Trump said
Trump made his remarks on Sunday before flying back to Washington from Palm Beach, Florida. He told reporters he had not spoken to Huang about the matter.
“I have not spoken to him about it. I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what is going on,” Trump said.
When reporters asked whether Huang should remain chief executive of Nvidia, Trump replied: “I think so. Oh yeah, sure.”
He went further. “I think he’s an honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it. You have to hear it,” Trump said, adding that Huang had done “an amazing job for our country”.
Asked whether he would take Huang with him on his planned trip to Asia this month, which includes stops in the Philippines and China, Trump said: “I don’t know, but I’d certainly take him.”
“I haven’t heard he’s done anything wrong,” the president added.
Trump’s comments matter because he was briefed on the intelligence findings about Huang roughly a year ago, according to a report by The New York Times. When reporters asked Trump on Sunday whether he wished he had acted on that intelligence at the time, he gave the same answer: he believed Huang was an honourable man and that people should hear his side of the story.
What Huang admitted
On the same day, Sunday 8 November, Huang, 63, sent a message to Nvidia’s employees. In it, he admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
“I was unfaithful to my wife,” Huang wrote. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
Huang said he took full responsibility for his actions and accepted the criticism that came with them. He described leading Nvidia as “the privilege of my life” and said he had fallen short of the standards that come with the job. He asked for privacy for his family.
He also apologised to his colleagues, business partners and shareholders, and said he would fully support the company’s investigation and cooperate with the review. The memo did not name the woman involved.
Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 and has led it ever since. Under his leadership, the company grew from a small maker of graphics chips for video games into the world’s most valuable company, built on the chips that power artificial intelligence. Its processors are now at the centre of the global race for AI, and of America’s efforts to keep its most advanced technology out of China’s hands.
Who is Alice Huang?
The controversy centres on a woman named Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le. She is a Chinese citizen and a former senior executive at Megaspeed, a data centre company based in Singapore. She is not related to Jensen Huang, despite sharing his surname.
US intelligence agencies have concluded that Alice Huang was passing information to Beijing, according to reports published in late October. Later reports said she had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security — China’s main intelligence agency — to collect information on Jensen Huang, and that the two had developed a close relationship.
Until last month, Jensen Huang described his dealings with her as “completely normal and not unusual”.
The allegations are contested. Megaspeed has said it is a “compliant and legitimate company” and has appointed outside lawyers to carry out its own internal investigation. China’s embassy in Washington has rejected the espionage claims. Alice Huang did not respond to requests for comment.
There is a business angle as well as a personal one. Megaspeed has bought more than $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips over the past two years, according to those reports. The company has also been examined by the US Commerce Department over suspicions that it helped Chinese firms obtain advanced AI chips that are barred by US export controls.
In other words, the woman at the centre of the case worked for a company that was both one of Nvidia’s biggest customers and under suspicion of helping China get around American chip controls. That is why US officials are taking the matter so seriously.
What Nvidia’s board is doing
Nvidia’s board of directors announced on Sunday that it had opened an independent investigation into reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence operation.
A committee of independent directors will oversee the inquiry, helped by outside independent lawyers. The committee will review all available information.
The board said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised”, but added that the inquiry would examine all available information. It said Huang “fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating”, and that he would continue to lead the company through the inquiry. The board also said it had confidence in Huang and in the company’s leadership team.
A company spokesperson, John Rizzo, said: “Today’s news will not slow NVIDIA.”
Nvidia itself has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and the board said it had seen nothing to suggest that US security interests or company secrets were at risk. That is an important point. The investigation is about whether Huang himself was targeted — not about whether Nvidia broke any law.
Investors, for now, seem calm. Nvidia shares were quoted at $188.70 in Sunday after-hours trading, up about 1%. The company reported a quarterly profit of $59.69 billion in August, on the back of the artificial intelligence boom.
Congress wants answers
The US Congress is also getting involved. On 4 November, the Republican chairmen of three House committees wrote to Huang seeking a closed-door briefing on 18 November about Nvidia’s safeguards against foreign espionage.
Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, has said Congress will investigate the matter. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to comment when reporters asked him about it. “I just can’t comment because of the nature of it,” he said. “And I also can’t comment on an internal corporate matter that’s going on with Nvidia.”
Analysts say the affair is now a governance problem as much as a security question. Daniel Ives of Yorkville Ives & Co called it a “black eye moment for Jensen” and said it would “spark multiple congressional inquiries at a minimum”.
Ray Wang of Constellation Research said the key question was whether “the extortion resulted in Nvidia making policies or the CEO making policies that would compromise national security”. In plain English: did the relationship change any decision Huang or Nvidia made?
So far, there is no public evidence that it did. But that is exactly what the board’s investigation and the congressional inquiries are meant to find out.
Why this story matters
This is not just a story about one man’s private life. There are four reasons it matters far beyond Nvidia.
First, Nvidia is the most important company in the AI age. Its chips power the data centres that train and run artificial intelligence systems around the world. When the boss of that company is under investigation, markets, governments and the whole technology industry pay attention.
Second, the chips are a matter of national security. The United States has placed strict controls on selling its most advanced AI chips to China. Washington wants to keep its lead in artificial intelligence, and it believes advanced chips could also be used for military purposes. Any suggestion that those controls were weakened — or that a chip company boss was compromised — is taken very seriously in Washington.
Third, the president is personally involved. Trump has now publicly defended Huang, said he should keep his job, and offered to take him on a diplomatic trip to Asia — including a stop in China, the very country at the centre of the spying claims. That puts the president’s judgement on the line, and it raises questions about what he knew and when he knew it, since he was briefed on the intelligence about a year ago.
Fourth, it shows how personal and political the tech war has become. The battle over AI chips is no longer just about trade rules and export licences. It now involves intelligence agencies, congressional committees, company boards and the president himself — all circling around one chief executive and one relationship.
What happens next
Several dates matter in the coming days and weeks.
The three House committee chairmen have asked Huang for a closed-door briefing on 18 November. That will be the first formal chance for lawmakers to question him — or Nvidia’s lawyers — about what happened and what safeguards the company has.
Trump’s Asia trip is planned for later this month, with stops in the Philippines and China. If Huang travels with him, as Trump suggested he might, it will be a striking image: a chief executive under investigation for a suspected foreign intelligence operation, standing beside the president in the country accused of running that operation.
Nvidia’s board investigation has no public deadline. Independent directors and outside lawyers will review the available information and report back. Until then, Huang remains in charge, with the board’s public backing.
And the questions that matter most remain unanswered. Was any Nvidia secret or US national security interest actually harmed? Did the relationship affect any business decision? And did anyone in government or at Nvidia know enough, early enough, to act sooner?
Frequently asked questions
Who is Jensen Huang?
Jensen Huang, 63, is the founder and chief executive of Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company. He started Nvidia in 1993 and built it into the leading maker of the chips that power artificial intelligence.
What did Jensen Huang admit?
In a message to Nvidia employees on Sunday 8 November, Huang admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife. He said his actions hurt his wife and children, that there was no excuse, and that he was deeply sorry. He asked for privacy for his family.
What is Nvidia investigating?
Nvidia’s board has opened an independent investigation into reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence operation. A committee of independent directors, helped by outside lawyers, will review all available information. The board says it has no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.
Who is Alice Huang?
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is a Chinese citizen and former senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company. US intelligence agencies have concluded she was passing information to Beijing, and later reports said she had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to collect information on Jensen Huang. She is not related to him. The claims are contested: Megaspeed says it is a legitimate company, and China’s embassy in Washington has rejected the espionage claims.
What did Donald Trump say?
Trump called Huang an “honorable guy” and a “fine person”, said he should stay as chief executive, and said he would “certainly” take him on his Asia trip later this month. He said he had not spoken to Huang about the matter and had not heard that Huang had done “anything wrong”.
Is Nvidia accused of wrongdoing?
No. Nvidia has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and its board says it has seen nothing to suggest US security interests or company secrets were at risk.
Conclusion
Donald Trump’s defence of Jensen Huang has turned a corporate scandal into a political one. The president has put his own name behind the boss of the world’s most valuable company, at the very moment that company is investigating whether its chief executive was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.
Huang has admitted the affair and apologised. Nvidia’s board says it has found no sign that secrets were lost. Congress wants to hear from him on 18 November. And Trump says he would happily take him to Asia.
What happens next will depend on what the board’s investigation finds, what Congress hears behind closed doors, and whether any evidence emerges that the relationship affected Nvidia’s decisions. Until then, one of the most powerful men in technology keeps his job — with the president’s public backing, and with the biggest questions still unanswered.
Sources
- News18: https://www.news18.com/world/honourable-guy-trump-defends-nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-after-he-admits-affair-with-alleged-chinese-spy-10417944.html
- The Daily Pioneer: https://dailypioneer.com/business/trump-backs-jensen-huang-as-nvidia-board-probes-whether-ceo-was-chinese-spy-target
- The Korea Herald (Herald Business): https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10930265
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
