Nvidia's board met late Wednesday to consider removing chief executive Jensen Huang, after reports of two extramarital affairs, including one with an alleged Chinese spy, fuelled a market sell-off and raised questions about the AI chipmaker's leadership.
Page F141From§Eachthe morning edition — 12 November 2026
THE HONEYPOT FILE
Nvidia dismissed its CEO's alleged Chinese spy affair as "debunked" in October; by November he'd confirmed it.
As it ran on the front
Today we are making an independent investigation, which is not a dish you can get over here, so I shall go slowly. You will need one chief executive, two extramarital affairs, a woman two governments cannot agree on, and a board that has already met once without saying why.
Begin with Thursday, 29 October, when the New York Times reported that American intelligence agencies had discovered last year that a Megaspeed executive, Alice Huang, was funnelling information to Beijing. Nvidia called the allegation "thoroughly investigated and debunked last year."…
Clive Debunked last year, back again this year. Rather like my verse — rejected, resubmitted, unchanged.
Gary Unchanged. We've resubmitted the boiler complaint four times, unchanged, and the landlord's dug further than American intelligence.
By Sunday, 8 November, Huang told Nvidia's board he had been intimate with the woman American intelligence believed to be that Chinese asset; the board answered by opening an independent investigation. You will be looking for the charge; there is none yet, only "preparing."
Rob Preparing. Who in this house has finished preparing anything yet?
That Monday the stock went onto the floor, the Guardian said Nvidia's shares were down. China's foreign ministry used the day to deny running any such operation. Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, said he was "pushing to investigate Jensen Huang and Nvidia to determine whether our national security was compromised." President Trump said the FBI was investigating the relationship.
Gary National security. Rob's investigated the washing-up rota for years and found no culprit.
The Guardian had Huang as "the target of a foreign intelligence effort"; France 24 heds the whole affair a "spy scandal." At home the vocabulary never moved: Nvidia called the October report "debunked" and the November one an independent investigation, the same institutional calm both times.
Keith Same institutional calm both times. I could bottle that calm, properly branded, by Thursday.
Then came the second affair: the Times reported Huang had also been involved with an executive at Nvidia who reported to him, and the BBC had him "embattled." France 24 said the two affairs together had "fuelled a market sell-off." Two sources told CBS News the board was preparing to oust him soon, and Le Monde had it preparing, Wednesday evening, to dismiss its own founder.
Clive Branded by Thursday. I've offered the house my villanelle on rent since March — no takers.
A minister at Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said records showed Alice Huang had entered the island three times in 2024 and five times in 2025. Megaspeed, the company she was helping lead, had bought nearly five billion dollars in Nvidia chips and advanced hardware, and denies any wrongdoing.
It serves the board's own timetable, not Huang's: Nvidia's statement has not changed its vocabulary, only its subject. Megaspeed keeps the nearly five billion dollars in chips already bought; the shareholders who watched the stock fall have already paid.
Keith Nearly five billion in chips and not one tin with his face on it. No imagination in this house.
“Nvidia called it "debunked" in October — cheaper than firing the man who controls the planet's chip supply. By November, Jensen Huang admitted it himself, after the company tied to her bought nearly five billion dollars of that same hardware. The board didn't start "preparing" to move until the stock did.”
“This is a personnel matter — companies review executive conduct all the time, that's just good governance. No charges have been filed; the FBI said "investigating," not "arresting" — there's a real distinction there. Did I just explain away a national-security problem as an HR issue — that doesn't sound like me.”
The receipts
Nvidia's board met late Wednesday to decide whether to oust CEO Jensen Huang, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the world's dominant supplier of AI chips grapples with fallout from reports of two extramarital affairs involving its longtime leader. Report by Jack Pownall and Eliza Herbert.
Questions are growing about Jensen Huang’s ability to hang on as CEO of Nvidia after the New York Times reported he had an extramarital relationship with an executive at the company who reported to him. NBC News’ Hallie Jackson reports.
A Mainland Affairs Council minister said records show that Alice Huang, the woman Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is reported to have had an extramarital affair with, visited Taiwan three times in 2024 and five times in 2025.
Nvidia said Sunday its board will open an investigation into CEO Jensen Huang after he admitted to being intimate with a businessperson who U.S. intelligence said was a Chinese spy. “The NVIDIA Board is initiating an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that our founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of […]
Billionaires, governments, spies, and the most coveted technology in the world. Author and journalist Patrick McGee explains what we know so far about the scandal surrounding NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. If you'd like to share your own great question, email us at greatquestion@cbsnews.com.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on Monday called for a probe into reporting that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. "I’m pushing to investigate Jensen Huang and Nvidia to determine whether our national security was compromised," Coons, who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote on social platform…
China’s foreign ministry denied that the communist country was involved in an alleged plot to gain access to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang through a honey trap. Nvidia announced Sunday that it opened an independent investigation into Huang after reports that he was involved romantically with a woman who U.S. intelligence deemed to be a Chinese…
The president said he spoke with Jensen Huang, who told him, “He had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy.”
Jensen Huang reportedly had close relationship with Chinese businesswoman accused of passing information to Beijing. Plus, tennis legend Billie Jean King tells all • Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the board of directors was preparing, on Wednesday evening, to dismiss Jensen Huang, the founder of the chip-making giant at the heart of the artificial intelligence revolution.
The billionaire tech executive's future is in question after reports of a second extramarital affair.
Nvidia's board of directors is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang soon, according to two sources, amid allegations Huang had an affair with a woman U.S. intelligence agencies believe was a Chinese asset.
Jensen Huang’s affair with a woman U.S. officials say is a Chinese spy has drawn attention to the role of intimate relationships in espionage.
The investigation into Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with an alleged Chinese spy has renewed questions about Megaspeed, the company the suspected spy was helping lead. Megaspeed bought nearly $5 billion in AI chips and advanced hardware from Nvidia. Megaspeed denies wrongdoing.
· Nvidia dismisses report alleging Chinese executive tied to CEO passed intel to Beijing from the morgue, 29 Oct 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.