On Tuesday, November 10, the board of directors at NVIDIA announced that it has engaged former Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim, along with the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to conduct an independent investigation into allegations concerning CEO Jensen Huang’s extramarital affair.
This announcement follows Huang’s admission of his affair on Sunday, November 8. Prior reports have indicated that he was involved with a woman who has ties to Chinese intelligence agencies.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the NVIDIA board asserted, “The independent members of the NVIDIA board have engaged former Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim, along with his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to carry out a comprehensive and independent inquiry, which was publicly disclosed on Sunday.”
According to Law360, Kim joined the law firm in October after previously serving as the Chief U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.
Since Huang’s confession about the affair, NVIDIA’s stock has experienced significant volatility. The chipmaker saw its stock price drop by over 4% on Monday, followed by another 6% decline on Tuesday.
NVIDIA and its board are under increasing scrutiny from critics and politicians, who are questioning how much the company was aware of the sale of its export-restricted artificial intelligence chips to Chinese firms.
In recent weeks, reports from The New York Times and the Financial Times revealed that U.S. intelligence agencies have been monitoring a Chinese tech executive named Huang Le, who is associated with NVIDIA’s client, Megaspeed, based in Singapore. The reports suggest that the intelligence agencies concluded Huang Le may be passing information to Beijing and has connections to Chinese intelligence.
Jensen Huang is a prominent figure in the global AI industry, with NVIDIA’s AI chips being utilized to train nearly all major AI models available today. Additionally, NVIDIA has become a crucial source of funding for AI startups. As the public face of NVIDIA, Huang has fostered strong relationships with world leaders and leading CEOs across the business landscape.
On Sunday, the NVIDIA board indicated that it would investigate the allegations that Huang has become a target of foreign intelligence entities. At the same time, the board expressed that there was no reason to believe that national security or NVIDIA’s confidential information had been compromised, reassuring that Huang would continue his role as CEO of NVIDIA.
This unfolding situation raises concerns not only about corporate governance at NVIDIA but also about the broader implications of international relations and national security given the interconnected nature of technology, intelligence, and foreign interests. As the investigation progresses, the focus will be on uncovering the facts while scrutinizing NVIDIA’s practices and Huang’s leadership in the midst of an already turbulent market.