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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Faces Congress Over Alleged Spy Affair — AI-generated representative image: The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., where lawmakers have demanded testimony from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang over a national se

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House committee leaders demand a closed-door briefing amid questions over whether his relationship with a former Megaspeed executive compromised US national security.

United States lawmakers are demanding answers from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang amid growing concerns that an extramarital affair he has admitted to may have compromised national security. Huang, 63, acknowledged the relationship, which media reports say involved Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based tech firm Megaspeed who is accused of working for Chinese intelligence.

Republican leaders of three House committees have asked the Nvidia chief to testify at a closed-door briefing, with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast saying he would subpoena Huang if he did not respond by the end of Wednesday.

The controversy matters because Nvidia's advanced chips power much of today's artificial intelligence and sit at the centre of the technology rivalry between the United States and China. Since 2022, Washington has restricted sales of some of the most advanced chips to China over concerns they could be used by the country's military or intelligence agencies.

The affair has raised questions about what sensitive information Alice Huang may have accessed and whether the relationship influenced Jensen Huang's decisions on chip export policy.

Pressure Builds on the Nvidia Chief

Huang apologised to his family and Nvidia employees in a statement on Sunday. The company also launched an independent investigation, saying it had no reason to believe "either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised." By Wednesday, however, media reports indicated Nvidia was preparing to part ways with Huang over the controversy.

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into the matter, but stood by Huang, calling him an "honourable guy." Pressure intensified on Tuesday when Republican Senator Kevin Cramer called for his resignation.

"The potential for extortion is so tremendous that something as sensitive as Nvidia chips, I just think he's got to go," Cramer said in an interview with Politico. Huang, who co-founded Nvidia more than 30 years ago, has shown no signs of heeding that call.

Nvidia's Role in the US-China Tech Race

Nvidia's advanced chips have placed the company at the heart of the competition for technological dominance between China and the United States. Since 2022, Washington has restricted sales of some of the most advanced chips to China over concerns they could be used by the country's military or intelligence agencies.

According to US intelligence officials cited by The New York Times, Alice Huang was recruited by Chinese intelligence to gather information about Jensen Huang and influence him to push for looser restrictions on chip sales to China. The Nvidia CEO had already been advocating for an easing of the rules, arguing that China's domestic chip industry would strengthen without better access to US products.

Megaspeed, Alice Huang's former employer, bought more than $4.8bn worth of Nvidia chips over roughly two years and has been investigated over allegations that it helped Chinese companies access restricted chips. Megaspeed denies the allegation.

What Sensitive Information May Have Been at Risk

Experts have raised concerns about what Alice Huang may have learned through her relationship with Jensen Huang. Jessica Brandt, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, pointed to information about how Nvidia designs its China-specific chips.

"Information about its conversations with policymakers could be helpful for anticipating where those controls and other policies are headed," Brandt said. "Understanding where it disagrees with government could expose fault lines to exploit. And that's before we get into anything touching R&D."

Ryan Fedasiuk, a fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, noted that Nvidia contacted the US Commerce Department about its investigation into Megaspeed and appeared to vastly undercount the value of chips sold to the company in government disclosures. "The question at hand is whether Nvidia took specific actions with respect to Megaspeed that it might not otherwise have done," he said.

What Lies Ahead

So far there is no publicly available evidence that Alice Huang accessed sensitive information from Nvidia or influenced Jensen Huang's decisions. US intelligence has also not made public any evidence that Alice Huang was working for Chinese intelligence.

China has flatly denied the espionage allegations. "The claim of so-called 'Chinese spies' is completely groundless and is nothing but a smear campaign against China," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday. The House committees await Huang's response to their request for testimony.