Nvidia faces deepening scrutiny over China chip ties, CEO affair

Nvidia shed about $430 billion in market value over two sessions as new reports deepened questions about CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with a Chinese businesswoman alleged to be a spy for Beijing. The controversy escalated on several fronts on Tuesday as allegations emerged that Huang's relationship with Alice Huang aided at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to China and that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously briefed President Donald Trump on the affair. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer demanded answers from the administration and tighter curbs on chip exports to China, while the company's independent directors hired outside counsel to investigate. The allegations have turned Huang's personal conduct into a broader risk for Nvidia, raising questions about the company's governance and its dependence on the CEO who has led it for more than three decades and built it into the dominant supplier of AI chips. He owns about 3.6 percent of the company — but does not have majority voting control — and runs an unusually flat organization in which dozens of exe