Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang were sued on Monday in a proposed class action alleging they defrauded shareholders by concealing Huang's ties to a suspected Chinese spy.
asserted
they → sue → spy
Nvidia announced a probe into the matter on Sunday.
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Nvidia → announce → Sunday
Its shares closed down 4.3 per cent on Monday, reducing Nvidia's market capitalisation by approximately $190billion.
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shares → close → 190billion
The lawsuit was filed five minutes after the US stock market closed.
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market → file → ?
According to a complaint filed in federal court in San Jose, California, the defendants misled shareholders about Huang's alleged affair with Alice Huang, an unrelated former executive of Singapore-based Megaspeed.
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defendants → accord → Megaspeed
The complaint further alleges that the defendants did not disclose that the matter raised national security concerns that threatened Nvidia's reputation and business prospects.
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that → allege → reputation
The New York Times reported last month about the alleged relationship, and that US authorities had concluded Alice Huang was a Chinese intelligence asset.
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Huang → report → relationship
Jensen Huang told Nvidia's employees he had been unfaithful to his wife, without disclosing details of the alleged relationship.
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he → tell → relationship
Shareholders often sue companies after unexpected share price declines.
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Shareholders → sue → declines
Nvidia shareholders led by Mark Kistenmacher are seeking unspecified damages from the defendants.
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shareholders → lead → defendants
But Nvidia's shares are set to rally when Wall Street opens in almost five hours.
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Street → set → hours
The company's stock is up nearly 2 per cent in premarket trading, which could recover more than a third of yesterday's drop.
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which → recover → drop
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Monday the FBI was looking into Huang's affair.
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FBI → say → affair
Trump said he 'was amazed' by allegations about Huang, among the president's closest allies in Silicon Valley.
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he → say → Valley
Trump said he had spoken to the CEO, who told him that he had no idea that the woman was a spy.
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woman → say → idea
'I know the FBI is looking into it,' Trump said.
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Trump → know → it
'I think that he'll be in good shape,' he added.
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he → think → shape
The probe has put a spotlight on 63-year-old Huang's future given Nvidia's status as the world's most valuable chipmaker and the CEO's role as the most prolific salesman of the AI boom.
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probe → put → boom
The leather-jacketed Huang enjoys rock-star status worldwide, particularly in Asia, where he often mingles freely with fans, taking selfies and signing autographs for his devoted followers.
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he → jacket → followers
He is Nvidia's fifth-largest shareholder with a roughly 3.6 per cent stake, according to LSEG data, and keeps a tight grip on the company through an unusually flat structure in which dozens of executives report directly to him.
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dozens → accord → him
But unlike Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms or Elon Musk's SpaceX, Nvidia has no dual-class shares that would give co-founder Huang majority voting control.
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that → have → control
Huang said in an open letter posted on Nvidia's website: 'I support the investigation and will cooperate fully.
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I → say → investigation
I love our country and our company.
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I → love → country
I am committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America's national security.'
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I → commit → security
The fallout from the probe extended to South Korea, where Madison Huang – Huang's daughter and an Nvidia executive – cancelled a planned visit to Seoul for an Nvidia conference that was set to begin on Monday, according to companies she had been scheduled to meet.
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she → extend → companies
Nvidia's shares tumbled more than 6 per cent in Frankfurt trading, extending last week's selloff and pushing the stock to fresh multi-month lows.
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shares → tumble → lows
At those levels, the chipmaker stood to lose about $270billion from its closing price on Friday, according to a Reuters report citing LSEG Datastream.
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chipmaker → stand → Datastream
The New York Times reported that Trump was briefed on Huang's relationship with the woman and that she was giving information to the Chinese government, and that the president chose not to act on the information.
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president → report → information
'The so-called Chinese spy narrative is purely a groundless accusation, slander, and a smear,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.
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Jiakun → call → Beijing
Huang's relationship with Trump has coincided with several favourable policy developments for the company, and the president has lavished Huang with praise, awarding him the nation's highest honour for scientific achievement in October.
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president → coincide → October
The same day Trump gave Huang the award, the president disclosed buying up to $1.6million and selling up to $1million of Nvidia shares during the summer.
Nvidia said its board has confidence in Huang, thought by many on Wall Street to be the most important person underpinning the AI trade.
Analysts acknowledged uncertainty around succession, but most do not expect the investigation to result in the longtime CEO stepping down.
Huang has been asked by three Republican congressmen to attend a closed-door briefing on November 18
Pictures posted to LinkedIn by the company NetThunder showed the Nvidia boss and Ms Huang together in a bar in Taipei, Taiwan, in June 2024
'Nvidia is not an ordinary company and Jensen is not an ordinary CEO; he is Nvidia, clearly sets the long-term strategy and direction, and pulls most of the company's strings himself,' said Stacy Rasgon, an analyst at Bernstein.
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Rasgon → give → Bernstein
Huang and Alice Huang were photographed together at a bar in Taipei, Taiwan, in June 2024, where Huang was seen wearing his trademark black leather jacket and enjoying whiskey with other technology executives.
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Huang → photograph → executives
Ms Huang sat beside him during the gathering, which followed a technology trade show.
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which → sit → show
Photographs were subsequently shared on LinkedIn by technology company NetThunder.
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Photographs → share → NetThunder
They were reportedly seen together again in May 2025, leaving a restaurant in Taipei after a dinner attended by AI suppliers.
uncertain
They → see → suppliers
Some prominent figures weighed in on Huang's admission.
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figures → weigh → admission
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, said on X that the Nvidia CEO was an 'incredible human', but if 'indeed this is more than an affair, then it is obviously a real problem'.
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it → say → affair
'I am hoping for a simple affair, not a risk to our national security,' he added.
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he → hop → security
Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented, 'I agree' on a post by Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire that said Huang 'did something incredibly dumb' that was 'bad for America' but that 'Jensen is irreplaceable for America's AI leadership'.
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Jensen → comment → leadership
Lawmakers and advocates told Reuters that Congress was more likely to pass legislation to tighten China's access to AI chips in light of news of Huang's affair.
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Congress → tell → affair
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
