Several key points remain unsettled. Nvidia's announcement describes a stepdown, but a person familiar with the matter told CNBC that the board voted to oust Huang. China's Foreign Ministry calls the spy allegation unsubstantiated. Trump has said the FBI is looking into the matter, and Jensen Huang told him he had "no idea" Alice Huang was a spy. Details of the FBI inquiry are not public. The New York Times reported that Jensen Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, a senior Nvidia executive who reports to him. A Information report claims the relationship helped move Nvidia AI chips worth at least $7.5 billion to Chinese companies. That claim is a press report and has not been confirmed. A shareholder suit filed in California alleges Nvidia and Jensen Huang misled investors in their responses to the reporting.
For attorneys, the stakes extend beyond one executive. Analysts say Nvidia is hard to separate from Huang, and one estimated the company would be worth 25% less without him. Its stock hit eight-month lows over national security concerns. Lawmakers are expected to continue their probe, and the question of what the Trump administration knew about Huang's ties to Alice Huang is likely to become a congressional investigation when Democrats take control of Congress in January. Watch the California shareholder suit, any FBI findings, the board's inquiry into whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort, and scrutiny of Nvidia's chip sales to China and its Singapore customers.