Trump stands by Nvidia boss Jensen Huang despite spy scandal, but FBI is investigating

The revelations this weekend that Nvidia Corp. boss Jensen Huang had an extramarital affair with a woman who has been accused of working for Chinese intelligence have now ensnared U.S. President Donald Trump, raising further questions about national security.

At the same time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it’s looking into the affair, meaning it’s likely to get continuing attention in coming weeks or longer.

Nvidia said it has launched an investigation into Chief Executive Huang’s actions after he admitted to cheating on his wife with a woman known as Alice Huang (no relation), who serves as the CEO of a Singapore-based company called Megaspeed.

U.S. intelligence officials suspect Alice Huang has been feeding information about Huang and the chipmaker’s plans to the Chinese government. And though Trump was informed of the possible infiltration, he has continued working with Nvidia and Huang on domestic policy issues related to technology and artificial intelligence, which have become of vital importance to the U.S. economy.

Huang has spent the last two years cultivating a close relationship with Trump, gaining extraordinary access to America’s top decision-maker and influence over the country’s AI strategy. He has gone from being virtually unknown to the president to being a key member of a cadre of technology industry executives accompanying him on trips aboard Air Force One, including a visit to China in May.

He has come to be seen as a major ally of Trump, attending numerous White House events while repeatedly praising his policies. Notably, his company made a $25 million donation to the president’s gaudy ballroom project, becoming its top corporate contributor alongside Apple Inc.

Those efforts seem to have gone a long way toward getting Huang into the president’s good graces, and it seems to have paid off for the company. Last year, after months of lobbying from Huang and Nvidia, the Trump administration agreed that it could sell more advanced chips to China that were previously banned from being exported to the country.

Though that decision was widely known, it seems that the Trump administration has intervened in other ways to protect Nvidia’s interests. Earlier today, the New York Times reported that a Commerce Department investigation into Megaspeed, which was suspected of smuggling banned chips into China, was abruptly canceled after receiving an email from Nvidia’s general counsel. Commerce official Jeff Kessler, who was nominated for the role by Trump, reportedly gave Nvidia permission to contact the investigation team and mention his name, which goes against standard protocol.

Investigators had grown suspicious that Megaspeed was essentially just a front for smuggling embargoed Nvidia chips into China, but the correspondence from Nvidia’s general counsel Tim Teter kicked off a kerfuffle that ultimately led to the investigation being transferred to the Department of Justice.

But Trump defended Huang late on Sunday, stating that the Nvidia boss is an “honorable guy” who has not committed any wrongdoing. The president had been briefed about the suspected Chinese intelligence operation as far back as October 2025, but decided not to do anything, according to the Times. “I haven’t heard that he’s done anything wrong,” Trump said. “He dealt with somebody, but, you know, so does everybody else.”

Trump continued to defend Huang on Monday when quizzed about the situation again, before revealing that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is also looking into his relationship with the suspected spy. “I know the FBI is looking into it in terms of something else, and I think that he’ll be in good shape,” he said at a White House briefing.

Despite the apparent protection afforded by Trump, Huang appears to be taking no chances. A report in Wired said today that the Nvidia boss has hired the services of a public relations firm called Heller that specializes in handling public scandals. Rise Heller, the firm’s founder, has developed a reputation for helping powerful men sidestep allegations of sexual misconduct and other personal controversies. She previously represented clients including the former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the writer Jeffrey Toobin and the chef Mario Batali, Wired reported.

Tech industry personalities have also leapt to Huang’s defense. Shaun Maguire, a partner at the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital said in a post on X that Huang is “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation,” and stressed that although he did something “incredibly dumb,” he believes there was “no bad intention.” Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk later shared Maguire’s post, saying he agrees with all of it.

However, no intervention has managed to protect Nvidia’s stock, which slid more than 4% on Monday, wiping around $190 billion off of the company’s valuation.

Nvidia is scheduled to hold its next financial earnings call on Nov. 17, in which Huang is likely to face some very difficult questions — if he is on the call as has been customary.

Image: Nvidia, White House