Jensen Huang's accused-spy partner moved $7.5B in chips

Jensen Huang runs Nvidia, maker of the world's most advanced AI chips. On Nov. 8, he told staff he'd had a years-long affair. The woman, Alice Huang, is someone U.S. officials believe China's spy agency recruited. Reporters say she helped move $7.5 billion of Nvidia's banned chips into China.

Nvidia says its board found no evidence that trade secrets were compromised. It hired the law firm Wachtell Lipton on Nov. 10 to dig deeper. China's government has called the spy allegations a smear. None of this is proven in court. But the $7.5 billion number matters regardless of the spy question. It describes chips moving to China that U.S. export rules were written to stop. A CEO's personal relationship sits at the center of how they got there.

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Will Congress force Jensen Huang to testify? Three House Republican committee chairs have already asked him to appear this month. They cite Nvidia's 'security protocols against foreign adversary espionage.' Wachtell Lipton's investigation could still turn up something the board didn't expect. If it does, Nvidia faces real leadership turmoil. That would land at the worst possible time, just as competitors try to catch up.