Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has withdrawn from the ElevenLabs Summit in New York as his company investigates his relationship with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, who US intelligence officials suspect was recruited by China. The CEO's retreat from the stage follows his admission of an extramarital affair and has put fresh attention on Nvidia's business ties in Asia and its position in the debate over AI chip exports.
Events cancelled as Nvidia investigates
ElevenLabs confirmed on Monday that Jensen Huang would no longer speak at its summit, scheduled for Wednesday. He also withdrew from other engagements, including the Anthropic CEO Forum. Nvidia is an investor in ElevenLabs.
In a memo to employees, Jensen Huang apologized for being unfaithful to his wife and said his actions had hurt his family. Nvidia's board has opened an investigation into his relationship with Alice Huang, who shares his surname but is not related to him.
Nvidia and its CEO have said they have no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised. The investigation is continuing.
The intelligence allegations
US intelligence officials believe Alice Huang was recruited by the Chinese government to gather information on Jensen Huang and influence his position on US export controls for advanced AI chips. She is an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that buys Nvidia chips and rents access to its GPUs.
The accounts differ in how definitively they describe her alleged role. One says she is suspected of being a Chinese spy, while another says US intelligence reports had identified her as a spy for China's Ministry of State Security. China has denied the allegations.
The relationship has drawn scrutiny in part because Nvidia is central to discussions over Chinese access to advanced AI hardware. Questions about the company's China ambitions now sit alongside questions about Jensen Huang's future as CEO.
Earlier questions about Megaspeed
The relationship had attracted attention before the current investigation. In a May 13 report, New York short seller Culper Research described the two executives as unusually close and cited occasions when they had socialized together. Culper had taken a short position in Nvidia and stood to benefit financially from a fall in its share price.
Culper also alleged that Nvidia business lost to export controls had been rerouted through Southeast Asia and that Megaspeed had been secretly financed by Alibaba through shell companies. The possible illegal chip diversion alleged by Culper has not been independently verified.
Culper pointed to records showing that Megaspeed's total liabilities and equity rose from $33 million at the end of 2023 to about $3 billion at the end of 2024. Much of the increase took the form of refundable deposits from an unidentified source. Documents have since been reported to show that Alibaba lent money to Megaspeed through subsidiaries.
Megaspeed bought $4.8 billion in Nvidia chips, with purchases starting around the time Alice Huang was photographed with Jensen Huang at a Taipei bar in 2024. Those purchases and the company's financing are now part of the wider scrutiny surrounding a relationship Nvidia is still investigating.