Nvidia's board will probe CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with an alleged spy. Here's what to know.

By Emily Bary

'Today's news will not slow Nvidia,' a spokesperson says. Huang will remain in his role and cooperate with the investigation.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged Sunday that he was unfaithful to his wife.

Nvidia's board of directors is probing whether CEO Jensen Huang was targeted as part of a foreign-intelligence scheme, the company announced on Sunday.

Huang plans to stay on as CEO "without interruption" while the investigation takes place, according to a spokesperson, who added: "Today's news will not slow Nvidia."

Reports in recent weeks have indicated that the U.S. government was looking into the CEO's close ties to Alice Huang, who U.S. government officials believed to be a Chinese spy. Alice Huang is an executive of Megaspeed, a cloud-computing company based in Singapore that buys chips from Nvidia (NVDA).

See also: Nvidia's Megaspeed ties show potential blind spots in the U.S. effort to block China from accessing advanced chips

A Financial Times report over the weekend described the relationship between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang as intimate, though the two aren't related. In a message to employees on Sunday, CEO Huang acknowledged that he had been unfaithful to his wife.

"I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it," he said in note to staff that was shared with MarketWatch.

While Nvidia doesn't believe that company secrets or national-security matters were compromised, the board committee "will examine all available information," Nvidia said. The committee is made up of independent directors and will be assisted by outside counsel.

Huang "has committed to cooperating" with the investigation, according to Nvidia's statement. "The board has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team and will provide further updates as appropriate."

An Nvidia spokesperson previously told MarketWatch that Megaspeed was "no different than many other regional cloud customers" and that the interactions between the executives were "not unusual or unexpected." The company's disclosures on Sunday contradict Nvidia's previous characterization of the relationship.

The New York Times' reporting into Megaspeed late last month underscored the broader challenge of keeping advanced Nvidia chips out of China despite U.S. restrictions on their sale to the parties operating in the country.

-Emily Bary

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11-08-26 1630ET