Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang faced intense scrutiny this week after reports revealed that President Trump was warned about Huang's relationship with a suspected Chinese spy, Alice Huang, before allowing him on Air Force One. Despite the warnings, Trump defended Huang's reputation, and Huang continued to run Nvidia's meetings as if business were usual. More photos of the pair have surfaced from Chinese social media, with reports suggesting they first met as early as the 2010s.
At the Web Summit in Lisbon, attendees expressed mixed opinions about Huang's future. Some believed he would survive the scandal, citing his exceptional leadership and the company's success. Others pointed to Nvidia's lack of succession planning as a potential issue, suggesting that the company might be too big to fail. Fortune’s Ellie Pringle noted that many attendees wanted to believe the best of Huang, with some speculating that his actions might have been driven by love.
The case against Huang is complex. Nvidia was aware of the U.S. investigation into Alice Huang and her company, Megaspeed, in 2025, but Huang continued the relationship. He and the company made public statements that are now considered misleading. The board's lack of a chairman and succession plan has raised questions about their competence or potential complicity. Nvidia faces civil litigation, a likely congressional inquiry, and possible criminal charges from an FBI investigation. Fortune AI editor Jeremy Kahn suggested that Huang could cling to his position unless more damaging information emerges.
Meanwhile, global markets showed resilience despite bad news from the Fed. The S&P 500 declined after indications of a likely interest rate hike, but Asian and European markets rose following strong results from AI cloud provider CoreWeave. Nvidia's shares, which dropped 5.53% the previous day, rebounded with a 4.16% overnight increase. Bitcoin was trading at $73,647, and Brent crude rose to $93 per barrel.