Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares fell more than 5% to $176.82 in premarket trading on Monday after the company announced an independent investigation into reports that a foreign intelligence operation had targeted CEO Jensen Huang.
The investigation follows reporting by The New York Times that U.S. intelligence officials had identified Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Nvidia customer Megaspeed, as a Chinese intelligence asset who had developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang. Alice Huang is not related to the Nvidia CEO.
Nvidia’s board announced the investigation on Sunday and appointed a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside legal counsel, to oversee the review. The board said it had no reason to believe U.S. national security or Nvidia’s secrets were compromised. It also expressed confidence in Huang’s leadership. Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo said Huang was committed to remaining CEO and leading the company without interruption.
In a separate message to employees on Sunday, Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife and apologized to his family, colleagues, and shareholders. He did not name Alice Huang or confirm the reported relationship in that message. Huang also pledged to cooperate with the board’s investigation and reaffirmed his commitment to Nvidia and U.S. national security.
The investigation has raised questions about the future of Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has played a central role in its growth as a leading supplier of AI chips. Citi analyst Atif Malik identified corporate governance, increased regulatory scrutiny, and long-term leadership stability as key investor concerns.
Megaspeed has separately faced U.S. scrutiny over suspicions that it helped Chinese customers obtain advanced Nvidia chips subject to American export restrictions. In its response concerning Megaspeed, Nvidia said its regional cloud customers receive ordinary business information, not sensitive company trade secrets or information relevant to national security.
Singapore’s government said on October 31 that it had not investigated Alice Huang over alleged Chinese intelligence links, although investigations into Megaspeed were ongoing.
China reiterated its rejection of the espionage allegations on Monday. Foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun described allegations of Chinese intelligence involvement as groundless and an attempt to smear Beijing.
Separately, South Korea said Monday it expected Nvidia’s contracted GPU deliveries to proceed without disruption despite the controversy. Vice Minister of Science and ICT Ryu Jemyung said 10,000 GPUs funded under a 2025 supplementary budget were already in use, while additional GPUs contracted for 2026 were expected to enter service this year.
Nvidia Premarket Decline Erases Friday’s Rebound
Nvidia shares fell 8.8% last week, despite a 2.78% rebound in the final trading session that brought the stock to a closing price of $186.64. The latest pre-market decline has erased that recovery and pushed the stock below its pre-rebound closing price of $181.60, recorded on Thursday.
Separately, NVIDIA Tokenized bStocks (NVDAB) was trading at $176.69, down 5.65% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. NVDAB is a tokenized instrument that trades around the clock and is separate from Nvidia’s Nasdaq-listed common stock.
Congressional Briefing Request Precedes Board Investigation
Before Nvidia announced its investigation, three U.S. House committee chairmen—Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford—requested a joint, closed-door briefing with Huang on November 18 about his reported interactions with Alice Huang and Nvidia’s security measures against foreign espionage.
Their letter, dated November 4 and publicly announced the following day, asked Huang to confirm the proposed date or provide an alternative by November 11. His attendance has not been confirmed.
The proposed congressional briefing comes one day after Nvidia’s scheduled third-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings release on November 17. The company is due to hold its earnings conference call at 5 p.m. ET that day.