Nvidia shares fell in after-hours trading after reports of an internal investigation into whether CEO Jensen Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation raised questions about the company’s leadership. The controversy follows allegations involving a Chinese businesswoman reportedly investigated by US authorities over suspected links to Beijing.
Shares of Nvidia came under pressure on Monday after the company launched an internal investigation into whether its chief executive, Jensen Huang, had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort.
The investigation followed a report by The New York Times that Huang had a close relationship with Alice Huang, an unrelated former executive of Singapore-based company Megaspeed. US authorities reportedly investigated Alice Huang and concluded that she was an asset of Chinese intelligence.
According to the report, Huang told Nvidia employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife but did not provide details about the relationship.
The developments have attracted considerable attention because Nvidia is the world’s most valuable chipmaker and Huang is one of the most influential figures in the global artificial intelligence industry.
Nvidia Shares Decline
Nvidia shares fell more than 4% in after-hours trading, with prices reaching approximately $178.60 compared with Friday’s Nasdaq closing price of $186.64.
Trading on the Hyperliquid exchange’s perpetual futures market and the Blue Ocean after-hours trading system reflected the decline.
Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne, said the controversy was unlikely to benefit Nvidia’s stock, particularly at a time when investors were already questioning the scale and pace of global data centre investments.
However, he did not expect Huang to be replaced, describing him as an extremely influential figure in the AI industry.
Weston said the market reaction would have been considerably more severe if investors genuinely believed Huang was about to leave the company.
Allegations Draw Public Reactions
The controversy has also attracted comments from prominent business figures.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, described Huang as an incredible person but said the situation would become a serious issue if it involved more than a personal affair.
Ackman added that he hoped the matter was limited to a personal relationship rather than posing a threat to US national security.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also reacted to the controversy by agreeing with a post by Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire. Maguire criticised Huang’s reported conduct, describing it as damaging for America, while arguing that his leadership remained essential to the country’s AI ambitions.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he had not discussed the allegations with Huang but expressed confidence in the Nvidia chief executive.
Trump described Huang as an honourable person and said he hoped the situation would be resolved.
The New York Times also reported that Trump had been briefed about the intelligence findings approximately a year earlier but had decided not to take action.
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Nvidia Executive Cancels South Korea Visit
The controversy has also affected Nvidia’s planned activities in South Korea.
Madison Huang, Jensen Huang’s daughter and an Nvidia executive, cancelled a scheduled visit to Seoul, where she had been expected to attend meetings with local technology companies.
Her planned engagements included a visit to South Korean artificial intelligence startup Rebellions and a question-and-answer session with Kakao Mobility.
Rebellions said the events had been cancelled due to unavoidable internal circumstances at Nvidia.
However, Nvidia AI Day Seoul, a two-day event expected to attract around 2,000 participants, was scheduled to proceed as planned. The conference was set to focus on physical AI, agentic AI and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Asian Chipmakers Remain Resilient
Despite the pressure on Nvidia, shares of several major Asian semiconductor suppliers recovered on Monday following last week’s selloff in AI-related stocks.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares rose 6.5%, while Samsung Electronics gained 2.9% and SK Hynix advanced 4.7%.
Market analysts said a prolonged investigation or internal review could potentially delay Nvidia’s investment decisions and product launches, creating uncertainty across the semiconductor industry.
Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices could attract greater investor attention in the short term.
He also suggested that Samsung could benefit from increased attention because of its close business relationship with AMD.
However, Ryu noted that Nvidia’s products would be difficult to replace, limiting the potential impact of the controversy on its market position. He added that shipments to China could face further delays depending on how the situation developed.
South Korea’s deputy science minister said on Monday that the government expected no disruption to already contracted deliveries of Nvidia graphics processing units despite the issues facing the company.
