Jensen Huang faces a congressional grilling in December after resigning as Nvidia chief executive following disclosures of extramarital relationships, including one involving a woman identified in intelligence memos as a suspected Chinese state security asset.
Republican Senator Tim Scott announced he was requesting the former tech executive and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next month. The scandal has erased nearly half a trillion dollars from Nvidia’s market valuation while igniting acute anxieties over corporate governance and sensitive American technology protection.
“Recent reports raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive US technology,” Senator Scott wrote on the social media platform X.
The Senate inquiry arrives alongside a separate demand for a closed-door interview on December 1 by three House of Representatives committees, backed by the threat of a subpoena. Huang, who spent 33 years at the helm of the semiconductor giant he co-founded, admitted to an affair with Alice Huang, a former senior executive at the Singapore-based data center firm Megaspeed. The two individuals are not related.
US intelligence circulated a memorandum earlier this spring alleging that Alice Huang operated as an asset for China’s Ministry of State Security, an accusation that Beijing has firmly rejected. Singaporean authorities barred her from re-entering the country in February after determining she provided investigators with inaccurate information regarding her role at Megaspeed, though she faced no formal espionage investigation.
The New York Times subsequently reported a second relationship, publishing video footage showing Jensen Huang displaying affection with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care. Nvidia’s board launched an investigation into the allegations that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, though directors maintained their confidence in him before his departure.
The sudden exit of Huang leaves the artificial intelligence sector in uncharted territory. Nvidia captured unprecedented market dominance after OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, turning the company’s graphics processors into essential hardware for training and running advanced intelligence systems. Huang also served as a close informal adviser to US President Donald Trump, frequently lobbying against restrictions on advanced chip exports to China.
“It is a dark day for Nvidia and the US tech industry,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at investment bank Yorkville Ives. He added that the board took the necessary step to “rip off the band-aid and take Nvidia into its next chapter without him.”
Colette Kress Becomes Interim Chief Executive During Leadership Search
Nvidia named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive while the board conducts a global search for a permanent successor. Kress joined the semiconductor firm in 2013 following a long career at Cisco and Microsoft. Directors also appointed Harvey Jones, former chief executive of Synopsys, to serve as chair, emphasizing that operations and product roadmaps will continue without interruption.
President Trump voiced support for Huang while suggesting that former Apple boss Tim Cook would make a suitable replacement. “A Legend replaces a Legend!” Trump posted on Truth Social, noting that Cook built Apple into a premier global enterprise.
When asked whether Huang should have resigned, Trump told reporters it depended on the validity of the espionage allegations, adding that Huang was “going through hell” over the toll the ordeal takes on his family.
Lawmakers, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, are demanding clarity on what the Trump administration knew regarding Huang’s associations ahead of an upcoming presidential summit in China. Reports indicate the Commerce Department under Lutnick may have overlooked warning signs that Megaspeed was helping reroute restricted American technology to Chinese buyers.
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs said that it repeatedly sought information from the US Justice Department and the FBI during its Megaspeed inquiry but received limited assistance. With December hearings rapidly approaching, investigators intend to examine whether corporate oversight lapses compromised national security during the geopolitical race for technological supremacy.
