Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to having a romantic relationship with a Chinese businesswoman suspected of working for Beijing's intelligence services, according to an email obtained by Axios, prompting an independent investigation into whether the affair compromised U.S. national security or the chipmaker's closely guarded technology.

The disclosure has raised concerns about potential foreign influence over one of the world's most powerful technology executives, who has been a prominent advocate in Washington for easing restrictions on exports of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China amid intensifying competition between the two countries.

"I owe my family and all of you an apology," Huang wrote in a draft email to Nvidia employees obtained by Axios. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did."

Huang said he took "full responsibility" for his actions, acknowledging that he had fallen short of his obligations to Nvidia employees, the company's board of directors and shareholders.

"Leading NVIDIA is the privilege of my life," he wrote. "I am fully committed to NVIDIA and will work to earn back your confidence."

Nvidia announced Sunday that its board had authorized an independent investigation following media reports that Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The inquiry will be conducted by an independent committee with the assistance of outside legal counsel.

The company emphasized that it had no reason to believe either U.S. national security or Nvidia's proprietary information had been compromised.

The board also expressed confidence in Huang's leadership, saying he fully supported the investigation and had committed to cooperating with it.

"Today's news will not slow NVIDIA. Jensen is committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption," John Rizzo, Nvidia's head of public policy communications, said in a statement.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment on the Axios report.

The allegations center on Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese businesswoman and senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company. Despite sharing a surname, she and Jensen Huang are not related.

According to people familiar with U.S. intelligence and reports in American and European media, including The New York Times and Britain's Financial Times, Alice Huang was recruited by a Chinese intelligence agency to gather information about Nvidia's advanced AI chips and influence the company's export policies.

The alleged intelligence operation reportedly involved cultivating a personal relationship with the Nvidia chief executive that eventually became romantic.

U.S. intelligence agencies monitored the relationship for more than a year, according to the reports.

In June 2024, Jensen Huang and Alice Huang were reportedly documented together at a bar in Taipei, Taiwan. Around the same period, Megaspeed, which emerged from a little-known Chinese gaming company, began purchasing billions of dollars' worth of Nvidia's advanced chips.

The circumstances have drawn scrutiny over whether the relationship could have provided Chinese intelligence with access to sensitive commercial information or opportunities to influence Huang's positions on U.S. export controls.

The New York Times reported in October that Huang had maintained a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who passed information to Beijing.

Following that report, senior Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives called on Huang to brief Congress this month about the allegations.

The controversy comes as Nvidia occupies a central position in the technological rivalry between Washington and Beijing. Its advanced processors are essential to developing and operating powerful AI systems, making restrictions on their export to China a major issue in U.S. national security policy.

Huang has been among the most prominent technology executives urging Washington to ease those restrictions.

He has argued that maintaining American technology companies' presence in the Chinese market strengthens U.S. competitiveness and helps prevent China from developing domestic alternatives that could eventually surpass American chips.

His position has placed him at the center of a debate over whether restricting access to U.S. technology slows China's AI development or instead accelerates Beijing's efforts to achieve technological independence.

The allegations involving Alice Huang have added a new dimension to that debate, raising questions about possible attempts by Chinese intelligence to influence a leading advocate for continued technology exports.

However, the existence of a romantic relationship does not establish that Huang knowingly assisted a foreign intelligence operation or disclosed sensitive information.

Nvidia's board said its investigation would examine all available information, while maintaining that it had found no reason to conclude that national security or company secrets had been compromised.

For now, Huang remains at the helm of the chipmaker, with the company's leadership publicly backing him as the independent review proceeds.