Key points
- The Times reported the Nvidia spy allegation on Oct. 29
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted an affair on Nov. 8
- Nvidia reports Nov. 17, and the House asked for a Nov. 18 briefing
The board of Nvidia (NVDA) is investigating reporting that chief executive Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, after reports that US officials suspected Alice Huang, a former executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed, of spying for China. On Nov. 8, Jensen Huang told employees he had been unfaithful to his wife. The two Huangs aren't related.
This page lists key developments in order, with the date and the source. We'll add to it as the story moves. Nvidia reports quarterly results on Nov. 17, and three House chairmen asked Jensen Huang for a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18.
Last updated: Nov. 11, 2026, 8:13 a.m. ET.
Timeline of the Jensen Huang investigation
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | US officials begin investigating Megaspeed and Alice Huang. | The New York Times, our Nov. 10 report |
| August 2025 | Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter emails Commerce Department investigators looking into Megaspeed, saying a senior Commerce official had allowed Nvidia to reach out. | The New York Times, our Nov. 10 report |
| Late summer 2025 | Singapore police question Alice Huang and bar her from leaving the country. Teter calls Commerce under secretary Jeff Kessler to ask whether the department's export-control bureau played a role. The bureau wasn't involved, Bloomberg reported. | Bloomberg, our Nov. 10 report |
| Oct. 9, 2025 | The Times first reports on Jensen Huang and Alice Huang socializing in Taiwan. A shareholder lawsuit later uses this date as the start of its class period. | The Associated Press |
| Late 2025 | The Justice Department asks Commerce to pause its work on the Megaspeed case, and Commerce complies. | The New York Times, Bloomberg, our Nov. 10 report |
| Dec. 23, 2025 | Megaspeed issues a statement saying inspections, including one by Commerce, found no evidence of violations. | Our Nov. 10 report |
| Spring 2026 | A secret US memo describing the relationship goes to senior officials. The Times later reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw it. | The New York Times, the Financial Times, our Nov. 8 report |
| May 13, 2026 | Christian Lamarco, founder of short seller Culper Research, publishes a 40-page report on Nvidia's China business that warns of an "uncomfortably close relationship" between the two Huangs. Culper says it has a short position in Nvidia, a bet that the stock will fall. | The New York Times, Investing.com |
| May 2026 | Rubio tells President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One that US intelligence showed Jensen Huang was in a relationship with Alice Huang. Jensen Huang then joins Trump's trip to Beijing. | The New York Times, our Nov. 10 report |
| Oct. 29, 2026 | The Times reports US intelligence suspected Alice Huang of gathering information for Beijing. Nvidia calls Jensen Huang's interactions with her "not unusual or unexpected." Nvidia closes at $213.66, down 0.8%. | Our Oct. 29 report |
| Oct. 30, 2026 | China's Foreign Ministry calls the report "unsubstantiated" and a smear against China. | Our Nov. 9 report |
| Oct. 31, 2026 | Trump says he "didn't know about the specific thing" and hopes Jensen Huang will be OK. | AFP, our Oct. 29 report |
| Nov. 4, 2026 | Three House Republican chairmen date a letter asking Jensen Huang for a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18, with a reply due Nov. 11. | Our Nov. 6 report |
| Nov. 6, 2026 | The Times reports a US memo says China's Ministry of State Security recruited Alice Huang. The FT reports the memo describes a romantic relationship. Nvidia closes at $186.64. | Our Oct. 29 report, updated |
| Nov. 8, 2026 | Nvidia's board opens an independent investigation. Jensen Huang writes to employees, "I was unfaithful to my wife." Trump calls him "honorable," Reuters reports. | Our Nov. 8 report |
| Nov. 9, 2026 | China's Foreign Ministry repeats that the spy allegation is a smear. | Our Nov. 9 report |
| Nov. 9, 2026 | Nvidia closes down 4.3% at $178.67 while AMD and Broadcom rise. | Our Nov. 9 report |
| Nov. 9, 2026 | The Times and Bloomberg report Teter's 2025 outreach to Commerce. Trump says the FBI is "looking into it in terms of something else," CNBC reports. | Our Nov. 10 report |
| Nov. 9, 2026 | Asked whether he knew before the Beijing summit, Trump says, "No, I didn't hear about it then." | Our Nov. 10 report |
| Nov. 9, 2026 | A shareholder sues Nvidia and Jensen Huang in a California court, seeking class-action status and accusing them of misleading investors. Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries say they want to investigate further. | The Associated Press |
| Nov. 10, 2026 | The board's independent members hire former acting US attorney Joon H. Kim and Wachtell Lipton. Nvidia closes down 5.5% at $168.89, a two-day drop of 9.5%. | Our Nov. 10 report |
| Nov. 11, 2026 | Nvidia is up 4.0% at $175.71 in premarket trading as of 7:36 a.m. ET, as CoreWeave's results lift AI stocks. The House chairmen's reply deadline arrives. | Robinhood quotes, the House letter |
Dates still ahead
- Nov. 17, 2026: Nvidia reports fiscal third-quarter results. Its forecast for the quarter assumes no data center compute revenue from China.
- Nov. 18, 2026: The briefing date the House chairmen requested.
- Jan. 3, 2027: The current Congress ends. The House letter asked for any other date to fall within it. Democrats take control of both chambers after that.
Who Alice Huang is
Alice Huang is a Chinese citizen and a former senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company and Nvidia customer. US officials suspected Megaspeed of smuggling Nvidia AI chips into China, the Times reported. Nvidia said last month that earlier chip-diversion claims against Megaspeed had been "thoroughly investigated and debunked."
The Justice Department is conducting a criminal inquiry into Megaspeed, the Times reported. China has twice called the spy allegation a smear.
What we don't know yet
- Whether secrets were compromised. Nvidia's board said on Nov. 8 that it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised," but that its inquiry "will examine all available information."
- When the investigation will end. Neither the board's Nov. 8 statement nor its Nov. 10 statement gives a timeline.
- Whether the findings will be made public. The Nov. 10 statement doesn't say. On Nov. 8, the board said it would provide updates "as appropriate."
- Whether anyone has been charged. No report we've reviewed says so.
- Whether Jensen Huang knew of the alleged recruitment. Officials initially didn't believe he knew, and it's unclear whether that view has changed, the Times reported. Trump said Jensen Huang told him he had no idea.
- What the FBI is examining. Trump said the FBI is looking into it "in terms of something else" and didn't say what that was.
- Whether Jensen Huang will brief the House on Nov. 18. No public reply to the chairmen's letter had been reported as of this update.
- Whether the US memo will be released. It hasn't been.
Cover photo: Peter Dasilva / European Union, 2024, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped.
