TL;DR — the direct answer: Former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has been summoned to testify before the US Congress about his affair with a woman US officials suspect of working for Chinese intelligence. Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott has called Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify in December, while three House committees want Huang for a closed-door interview on 1 December — turning a personal scandal into a national security inquiry into whether restricted Nvidia chips reached China.
What happened: Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott sent Huang a letter on Thursday evening asking him to testify voluntarily at a public hearing on 3 December, warning the committee will use subpoenas if he refuses. Scott sent a separate letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, asking him to testify at a hearing on 10 December about Nvidia and the Commerce Department's role in the affair. The House moved faster: three Republican committee chairmen — Brian Mast of Foreign Affairs, John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China and Rick Crawford of Intelligence — asked Huang for a closed-door, transcribed interview on 1 December and gave him until 8 p.m. ET on Friday to confirm, or face a subpoena. Mast told reporters on Thursday that Huang's team had confirmed he will appear, with the session expected before Congress leaves for the Thanksgiving recess.
Why it's trending: The summonses landed two days after Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive on Thursday, 12 November, ending 33 years at the company he co-founded. He stepped down after reports of an affair with Alice Huang — no relation — a former senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singaporean data centre company that buys Nvidia chips. US officials have concluded Alice Huang was an asset of China's Ministry of State Security, according to The New York Times; Beijing calls the claim groundless. Huang, 63, admitted in a message to staff on Sunday, 8 November, that he had been 'unfaithful to my wife', without naming anyone. The Times later reported a second affair, with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care. Lawmakers now want to know whether a suspected foreign agent got close to the man running America's most important chip company, and what she may have learned.
Background / context: Alice Huang met Jensen Huang at a business lunch in Singapore in December 2023, according to Le Monde. Megaspeed had bought about $2 billion worth of Nvidia chips, and in 2024 the Commerce Department began investigating whether the company had smuggled restricted Nvidia AI chips into China. The probe made little headway and was passed to the FBI in 2025, after Nvidia itself learned it was under investigation. A memo drafted under Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned President Donald Trump about the espionage attempt before his trip to Beijing in May. Trump has played down the affair, treating it as a personal matter rather than a security crisis.
What we know / what's unconfirmed: Confirmed: the Senate and House summonses and their dates, Huang's resignation on 12 November, his admission of infidelity on 8 November, the Commerce Department's investigation of Megaspeed, and the board's decision to commission an independent investigation by the law firm Wachtell Lipton. Also confirmed: Colette Kress is serving as interim chief executive. Unconfirmed: whether any restricted chips actually reached China through Megaspeed, what Alice Huang is accused of passing on, and whether Huang knew of her alleged intelligence links. No charges have been announced against her, and the details of the FBI investigation remain sealed. The hearings in December are meant to answer those questions — in public in the Senate, and behind closed doors in the House.
What happens next: Huang is expected before the three House committees on 1 December for a transcribed interview under oath, with the Senate hearing to follow on 3 December and Lutnick's on 10 December. The House chairmen have made clear they will issue a subpoena if Huang withdraws his agreement to appear. The testimony will focus on the affair, what Nvidia knew about Megaspeed, and how export controls on AI chips were enforced. For the company, the hearings keep the scandal in public view for weeks; for Huang, they are the first time he must answer questions about the affair on the record.
Q: Who has summoned Jensen Huang?
A: Senate Banking chairman Tim Scott wants Huang at a public hearing on 3 December, and three House chairmen want a closed-door, transcribed interview on 1 December. Both have warned they will issue subpoenas if he refuses.
Q: Why did Jensen Huang resign from Nvidia?
A: He resigned on 12 November after reports of an affair with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive US officials suspect of working for Chinese intelligence. He admitted on 8 November that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
Q: Who is Alice Huang?
A: A former senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singaporean data centre company. US officials say she was an asset of China's Ministry of State Security; Beijing calls the claim groundless. She is not related to Jensen Huang.
Q: What is Megaspeed accused of?
A: US investigators have been probing whether the company smuggled restricted Nvidia AI chips into China, in breach of export controls. Megaspeed bought about $2 billion worth of Nvidia chips.
Q: Who is running Nvidia now?
A: Colette Kress is serving as interim chief executive while the board runs an independent investigation into whether Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.
Sources: Silicon Report — Senate panel summons Jensen Huang and Howard Lutnick to testify, Republic World — Ex-Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Howard Lutnick Summoned to Testify Before US Senate About Affair with Alleged Chinese Spy, and Al Mayadeen — Senate summons Jensen Huang to testify over alleged Chinese spy ties.
Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO, president and director with immediate effect, and chief financial officer Colette Kress is interim CEO.
The Information reports Alice Huang allegedly helped move $7.5 billion of Nvidia chips to China since 2023, as Nvidia's board probe of Jensen Huang widens.
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