Nvidia's stock slid roughly 4% on Monday after the company disclosed that it had opened an investigation into CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with a woman whom U.S. intelligence agencies have determined is a Chinese spy. The decline wiped out more than $200 billion in market value.

The investigation carries the potential to rattle the entire artificial intelligence boom, which has been driven by trillions of dollars in spending and investment, much of it aimed at buying Nvidia's cutting-edge AI chips.

In recent days, the Financial Times and The New York Times reported that Huang had a relationship with a Chinese businesswoman named Alice Huang. A person with knowledge of the matter told NBC News that U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded Alice Huang was a Chinese spy. The two Huangs are unrelated.

Huang, who founded Nvidia more than three decades ago, admitted in a note to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife. “To my colleagues at NVIDIA, including those I have worked alongside for decades, and to our board, partners, and shareholders around the world: you deserve better from me,” his email said.

Nvidia said in a Sunday statement that “a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation,” adding: “The Board prioritizes U.S. national and economic security, which is paramount to the interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders.” The board also said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised,” though it offered no timeline for the probe or details about Huang's contact with Alice Huang. A spokesperson told NBC News that Huang was “committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption.”

China has rejected the espionage allegations as “smears.” Megaspeed, the company where Alice Huang allegedly works, did not return requests for comment.

Huang has led Nvidia since founding it in 1993 and has steered it to a market value of more than $4 trillion, making his departure a potentially seismic shift. He is the largest individual shareholder outside of investment funds, with a stake of about 3.5% of shares outstanding, and because Nvidia has a single class of shares, unlike firms such as Meta, he is not protected if the board chooses to remove him. Trump voiced support for Huang on Sunday, saying, “I just know he's a fine person, but you never know what is going on.” Asked whether Huang should remain CEO, the president replied: “I think so. Oh yeah, sure.”

The scandal landed at a jittery moment for tech stocks, which had surged after Election Night made clear the Democrats would win majorities in Congress, then plunged the next day, with Thursday marking the worst one-day drop since Trump's initial tariff wave shook the global economy in April 2025. On Monday, however, the Nvidia news barely touched other stocks in early trading. The Nasdaq 100 soared 3%, the S&P 500 rose 2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed almost 900 points, helped by a sharp 5% drop in oil prices on news that U.S. and Iran talks were continuing. Trump also told CNN on Sunday it would be “highly unlikely” he would restart major combat operations against Iran. Nvidia peers AMD, Qualcomm, Taiwan Semi and Intel all rose, while Nvidia was the biggest loser on the Dow, the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500.

Few major analysts had weighed in by Monday morning, but those who did framed the episode as a rare stain on a sterling record. “This is a black eye moment for Jensen and will spark multiple congressional inquiries at a minimum and will create an overhang on the stock for a myriad of reasons,” wrote Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives, adding that “there is clearly risk that Jensen could be removed as CEO depending on the Board investigation.” Chip analyst Stacy Ragson of Bernstein Research put it bluntly: “NVIDIA is not an ordinary company and Jensen is not an ordinary CEO; he IS NVIDIA.”