Nvidia's board opens an independent investigation after reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign spy effort

Nvidia's board of directors is starting an independent investigation after reports that founder and CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, the board said in a statement posted Sunday, Nov. 8.

Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, designs graphics processing units, or GPUs, chips widely used to build and run artificial intelligence systems.  The chips were first made to draw video game graphics.  They suit AI work because they can do many small math problems at the same time.

What the board said

A committee of independent directors, meaning board members who do not work for the company, will oversee the review with help from outside lawyers, the statement says.  The board said it "has no reason to believe" that national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry will look at all available information.

The board said Huang "fully supports the review" and has promised to cooperate.  It also said it has confidence in Huang and his leadership team and will give updates "as appropriate."  The statement does not say who is on the committee, which law firm was hired, or how long the review will take.

Why it is happening

On Nov. 5, the chairmen of three U.S. House committees asked Huang to brief them behind closed doors about his contacts with an executive of Megaspeed, a company the lawmakers' news release describes as linked to China, and about Nvidia's protections against spying by foreign rivals.  The release calls the executive a "publicly reported" Chinese intelligence asset.  That person has not been charged with a crime, and this newspaper is not naming her.

The letter came from Republicans Brian Mast of the Foreign Affairs Committee, John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China and Rick Crawford of the Intelligence Committee.  They asked Huang to appear Nov. 18, or to offer another date by Nov. 11.  "It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which U.S. national security has been placed at risk," they wrote.

Separately, CNN reported Sunday that Huang told employees in a note that he had been unfaithful to his wife and took "full responsibility."  CNN said the note did not name the woman.  Before Sunday, Nvidia had said Huang's meetings with customer executives were a normal part of a CEO's job, according to CNN.

What comes next

Huang is Nvidia's founder as well as its CEO, the board's statement notes.  As of Sunday afternoon, Nvidia had not filed a notice about the investigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that oversees stock markets, according to the agency's online filing system.

Source:  Statement from NVIDIA Board of Directors, Nov. 8, 2026; House Foreign Affairs Committee news release, Nov. 5, 2026; Nvidia's SEC filing list.