Nvidia hires a former federal prosecutor from the Southern District of New York to investigate its CEO's relationship with an alleged Chinese spy

NVIDIA announced on Tuesday that it has retained former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim to lead an independent investigation into its CEO, Jensen Huang, after it was revealed that he had an intimate relationship with a woman whom U.S. intelligence agencies suspect of spying for China. "The independent members of NVIDIA's board of directors have retained former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joon H. Kim, and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to conduct a thorough and independent investigation, as announced on Sunday," the company said in a statement.

The decision comes after the board announced on Sunday that it was launching an investigation into findings by U.S. intelligence agencies, which determined that Alice Huang had allegedly smuggled advanced artificial intelligence chips into China while maintaining a "close relationship" with Jensen Huang.

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The revelation, coming amid a tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing for dominance in artificial intelligence, has sparked an internal crisis at the world's most valuable company. Nvidia's board of directors confirmed on Sunday that a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, will oversee the investigation, which will examine "all available information." The board emphasized that it "has no reason to believe" that U.S. national security or Nvidia's trade secrets have been compromised.

In a message to the company's employees released that same day, Jensen Huang, 63, admitted to having had an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a Chinese businesswoman linked to the Singapore-based data center firm Megaspeed International. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply remorseful," Huang wrote.