Nvidia board's Jensen Huang probe wasn't pushed by White House, report says

Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation involving CEO Jensen Huang on Nov. 8, 2026, and the US administration had no hand in that decision, according to a report. The probe turns on allegations that Huang was a target of foreign intelligence — not on any accusation that he did something wrong. The board says it still stands behind him.

The thread runs through Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed whom Huang has close personal ties with. US intelligence has assessed her as a likely Chinese intelligence asset, according to the reports, and China has denied those claims. The board moved after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal published stories about a possible espionage concern linked to the relationship.

Nvidia's directors went out of their way to defend their chief. They reaffirmed confidence in his leadership and said there is currently no reason to believe national security or Nvidia's proprietary secrets have been compromised.

President Donald Trump confirmed he had been briefed — a year earlier, per the research findings — and chose not to act on it. He also offered a personal endorsement of Huang, calling him “an honorable guy.”

Separately, the FBI has been reviewing the matter, according to the reports, on a track that sits apart from the board's own work. That separation is the heart of the latest report: the probe reportedly originated inside Nvidia rather than at the urging of federal officials.

Investors didn't wait for findings. Nvidia shares fell around 4% on Nov. 9, according to the research findings, wiping out billions of dollars in market value. Nvidia sits at the center of the US-China competition over semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and its chips power much of the current AI buildout — making the company a strategic asset in the eyes of policymakers on both sides of the Pacific.