Nvidia shares slip as board opens probe into CEO Jensen Huang

Nvidia’s board has opened an internal investigation after reports that chief executive Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, and the chipmaker’s shares fell in premarket trading on Monday, The Guardian reported. The stock was down about 5% before the opening bell and also slipped in Frankfurt trading.

Fox Business reported that Nvidia shares fell more than 4% in Monday morning trade, a slightly smaller decline than the premarket figure carried by The Guardian. Huang apologised to staff for being unfaithful to his wife, saying his actions hurt her and their children and that there was no excuse for what he did.

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Key facts

• Nvidia announced an independent investigation into reports Huang was the target of what it called a foreign intelligence effort, according to The Guardian.
• The board said in a Sunday statement that it has no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, Fox Business reported, but its inquiry will examine all available information.
• According to The Guardian, the woman at the centre of the reports, Alice Huang, worked for Megaspeed, a Singapore-based datacentre company suspected of routing Nvidia chips to China.
• Nvidia shares closed at $186 on Friday, down from around $225 in May, The Guardian reported.
• Senator Chris Coons wrote on X that “Congress will investigate and get answers” on Nvidia, The Guardian reported.

What Nvidia’s board is examining

The probe follows media reports that Huang had a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman. The Guardian said the woman was allegedly recruited to spy for China’s Ministry of State Security; Fox Business said she allegedly passed information to Beijing. China has rejected the spying claims as baseless, according to The Guardian.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that US secretary of state Marco Rubio drafted a memo citing intelligence on the relationship and circulated it to senior officials ahead of Donald Trump’s trip to China in May, The Guardian said.

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The story also touches Washington’s long-running argument over AI chip exports. The Guardian noted that Huang had criticised US export controls, arguing in May 2025 that they were a failure and had pushed China to build its own alternatives. Short-selling firm Culper Research, which flagged concerns about Nvidia’s China business and Huang’s ties to Alice Huang in a May report, estimated that more than 20% of Nvidia’s fiscal 2026 compute revenue remained driven by China.

Why it matters

Nvidia is the world’s most valuable company and sits at the centre of the AI investment story, so leadership uncertainty at the top unsettles a wider group of investors already questioning AI spending. Technology analyst Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives called the investigation a black eye moment for Huang and predicted congressional inquiries, while Capital.com analyst Daniela Hathorn noted the board still expresses confidence in his leadership.

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in last week’s midterms, The Guardian reported, giving them investigative powers that senator Chris Coons has signalled he intends to use. That adds a political layer to a story that began as a question about a chief executive’s conduct.

What to watch

The board’s findings and whether Huang keeps his role are the immediate questions; Ives said Huang is expected to stay in the near term but could be removed depending on the outcome. Congressional hearings, and any effect on US-China talks around the APEC summit, are the next markers.

This is not financial advice, and markets for AI-linked stocks remain volatile and uncertain.

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StockPil Editorial

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Sources: The Guardian, Fox Business