On Sunday, Nov. 8, Jensen Huang sent Nvidia’s employees a short letter that began, “I owe my family and all of you an apology.” He admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife, and said Nvidia’s board had opened an independent investigation into “the national security concerns raised in news reports.” Four days later, he was gone. Nvidia announced Thursday that Huang had resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately, ending 33 years at the head of the company he co-founded.
Nvidia makes the chips that most of the world’s AI runs on, and the Globe and Mail puts its value at around US$4 trillion (about $5.6 trillion CAD). Few CEOs have been as closely identified with their company, or with an entire industry. So the question for investors, for the AI business and for the Canadians whose pensions own a large slice of Nvidia is simple: what actually happened, and what happens now?
The answer is still incomplete. Much of what’s been published comes from anonymous sources, and several key claims haven’t been confirmed by Nvidia, Huang or the U.S. government. This piece separates what’s on the record from what’s been reported, and lays out what to watch next.
What’s confirmed
These facts come from Nvidia itself or are on the public record:
- Huang admitted an affair. His Nov. 8 letter didn’t name anyone. He wrote that he takes “full responsibility” and that he is “proud and grateful to be an American.”
- The board opened an investigation the same day. Its statement said it was responding to “recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.” It said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised,” and that it still had confidence in Huang.
- The investigators are heavyweight. On Nov. 10 the independent directors hired Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
- Huang resigned on Nov. 12. Chief financial officer Colette Kress, at Nvidia since 2013, is interim CEO and keeps her CFO job. Harvey C. Jones, a former CEO of chip-design software company Synopsys, became the board’s first-ever chair. The board will consider internal and external candidates for the permanent job.
- Huang has agreed to testify. He will appear before Congress before Thanksgiving on Nov. 26, according to TechCrunch’s running timeline, likely behind closed doors.
- Nvidia is in court. A proposed investor class action was filed in federal court in San Jose on Monday, and a separate shareholder suit against the board followed on Wednesday, the Globe and Mail reports, citing Reuters.
Huang has not been accused of a crime. U.S. President Donald Trump said Huang told him he had no idea the woman was a spy, the Globe reports.
What’s reported, but not confirmed
The core of the national security story rests on reporting by The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and others, much of it based on anonymous sources. The Circuit hasn’t independently verified any of it.
The alleged intelligence operation. According to the Times, as summarized by TechCrunch and the Globe, U.S. officials concluded that Alice Huang (no relation to Jensen), a Chinese citizen and executive at Singapore-based AI infrastructure company Megaspeed, is an asset of Chinese intelligence. A secret memo about the relationship reportedly circulated in the Trump administration this spring. China’s foreign ministry has called the allegation “groundless.”
The chips. Megaspeed reportedly bought US$4.8 billion of Nvidia chips over two years, and U.S. and Singaporean authorities have previously looked at whether it was passing chips to China, against U.S. export controls. On Friday, Engadget summarized a Bloomberg report that Chinese corporate filings show Nvidia H800 chips, which are banned for sale in China, ended up in servers at a Shanghai company that Alice Huang founded and her sister now controls. The filings don’t say whether Alice Huang was personally involved.
More relationships. On Nov. 11 the Times reported, citing five Nvidia employees, that Huang had also had a relationship with a vice-president who reported directly to him. On Nov. 12, Reuters reported a relationship with another, unnamed employee. Nvidia and Huang haven’t confirmed either report.
The final days. The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 11 that the board was preparing to oust Huang. Since his resignation, Bloomberg has described a deflated Huang in his final meeting, and the Journal has reported he privately doubted Kress’s strategic abilities, TechCrunch notes. Both rely on unnamed sources.
How we got here
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | A secret U.S. memo warns that Alice Huang is a Chinese intelligence asset, the Times later reports |
| Oct. 9 | Nvidia denies claims in a Times report about Megaspeed’s ties to China |
| Oct. 29 | The Times reports Huang had a close relationship with Alice Huang; Nvidia calls their interactions “not unusual or unexpected” |
| Oct. 30 | Huang tells Bloomberg the Megaspeed relationship is “normal and not unusual” |
| Nov. 5 | Three Republican House committee chairs ask Huang for a closed-door briefing |
| Nov. 8 | Huang admits an affair; the board opens an investigation |
| Nov. 9 | A proposed investor class action is filed in San Jose |
| Nov. 10 | The board hires Joon Kim and Wachtell, Lipton |
| Nov. 11 | Times reports a second relationship; WSJ reports the board is preparing to oust Huang; shares fall about 8% after hours |
| Nov. 12 | Huang resigns; Kress named interim CEO; Huang agrees to testify; top Democrats open an inquiry |
| Nov. 13 | Bloomberg reports on banned chips at a Shanghai company linked to Alice Huang |
Sources: Nvidia, TechCrunch, the Globe and Mail, Engadget.
The Washington problem
The affair became a political story because of what Nvidia sells and to whom. The U.S. has restricted exports of advanced AI chips to China since 2022, and Huang lobbied Trump to ease those restrictions. In December 2025, the administration let Nvidia sell its H200 chips to China in exchange for a cut of the export sales.
That decision is now under attack. The top Democrats on the House and Senate tax committees, Rep. Richard Neal and Sen. Ron Wyden, wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick asking the department to preserve records, TechCrunch reports. Their letter argues the administration approved the H200 sales despite reportedly being briefed on Huang’s relationship. As the minority, they can ask questions but can’t compel answers. Our analysis: that could change in January, since Democrats won control of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterms, the Globe notes. Republicans are pressing too: Sen. Tim Scott has asked Huang and Lutnick to appear before the Senate Banking Committee.
The legal exposure
The Globe’s legal explainer lays out three fronts:
- Investor class action. It covers people who bought Nvidia stock between Oct. 9, when Nvidia denied the Times report, and Nov. 8. It alleges the company and Huang hid the relationship. The stock lost about 20% over that period, roughly US$1 trillion in value. To win, investors must show they were knowingly misled.
- A suit against the board. It argues directors ignored warning signs and let Nvidia keep reassuring investors about Megaspeed.
- Regulators. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could investigate Nvidia’s disclosures, and state attorneys general have their own securities laws. None had acted as of Thursday. Nvidia paid a US$5.5-million SEC fine in 2022 over disclosures about gaming demand, without admitting or denying the allegations.
What it means for Canada
Your pension owns a lot of Nvidia. Seven of Canada’s biggest pension funds held a combined US$20.7 billion (about $29 billion CAD) of Nvidia shares as of June 30, The Logic reports. CPP Investments alone held US$10.3 billion (about $14.5 billion CAD). These are large, diversified funds, so one stock’s drop is a small part of their results, but it’s a reminder of how concentrated global portfolios have become in a few AI companies.
Canadian AI companies have Nvidia money. Nvidia is a returning investor in Toronto-based Cohere’s planned Series E, which hasn’t closed, The Logic reports. The Globe notes Nvidia has also backed autonomous vehicle startup Waabi, and partnered with Brookfield and five other financial institutions to raise up to US$500 billion for AI infrastructure.
The AI spending machine may slow. Under Huang, Nvidia invested heavily in its own customers, including US$30 billion put into OpenAI in February, which helped fund the data centres that buy its chips. Analysts quoted by the Globe question whether a CFO-turned-CEO will keep writing those cheques. “There’s a question mark as to whether the incoming CEO will have the guns-blazing attitude that Jensen Huang had,” said BCA Research chief economist Peter Berezin. Shares in AI cloud providers Nebius and CoreWeave fell 17% and 7%, the Globe reports. Our analysis: that matters in Canada, where companies are planning a wave of AI data centres, including the gas-powered campuses proposed in northern Alberta. Less aggressive financing from Nvidia could make some of those projects harder to fund.
What to watch
- Tuesday, Nov. 17, about 4:20 p.m. ET: Nvidia reports third-quarter results, its first under Kress. Listen for any change to its investment and financing deals, and to China sales.
- Before Nov. 26: Huang’s closed-door testimony to Congress, and whether Lutnick testifies too.
- The board’s investigation: whether its findings are made public, and whether they address Megaspeed.
- The CEO search: internal or external, and how long Kress stays in charge.
- The lawsuits and regulators: more investor suits are likely, the Globe notes, and an SEC inquiry would be a bigger deal than any of them.
- Washington’s chip policy: whether the H200 approval for China survives the scrutiny.
Why it matters: For Canadians, this isn’t just a Silicon Valley soap opera. Our pension funds own a large slice of Nvidia, our best-known AI companies take its money, and our AI infrastructure plans depend on the spending boom it drove. The confirmed facts so far are narrow: an admitted affair, a resignation and a pending investigation. The allegations about espionage and chip smuggling are serious but unproven. Until the board’s investigators, Congress or a court tests them, it’s worth reading every new headline with that distinction in mind.