Governments across Asia are responding to Jensen Huang's exit from Nvidia, with China rejecting spy allegations and South Korea, Taiwan and Japan addressing the impact on local chip projects and supply.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday after the company's board launched an investigation into reports of extramarital affairs, including one with a woman U.S. intelligence officials believed was recruited by China's top spy agency. China has rejected the spying allegations as groundless and a smear against Beijing.
China's foreign ministry rejected allegations on November 10 that a Chinese businesswoman linked to former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was a spy, calling them groundless and a smear against Beijing. A spokesperson reiterated opposition to export controls that disrupt global supply chains and stated the ministry was not aware of reports linking restricted Nvidia chips to a Shanghai data center associated with Alice Huang.
Huang's exit has raised uncertainty over more than $3 billion in Chinese AI computing projects reliant on Nvidia's restricted processors, according to Reuters' review of procurement notices, investment plans and corporate disclosures. Many of these chips are subject to U.S. export controls, making them difficult for Chinese companies to obtain.
In Singapore, authorities seized the passport of Alice Huang, former CEO of Singapore-based cloud computing company Megaspeed, in June 2025 as part of an investigation into possible false declarations regarding server purchases, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The ministry said police took her passport to ensure she remained available for questioning, as she was not based in Singapore. The investigation examined whether servers shipped from Singapore to Malaysia were later sent to other countries without proper declaration.
In February 2026, police found insufficient evidence to establish that Alice Huang had committed offenses related to the suspected false declarations, according to the ministry. However, authorities said she had knowingly provided inaccurate information about her role at Megaspeed. She was issued a warning and barred from re-entering Singapore. Her passport was returned that month. Singapore also said it received limited assistance from U.S. authorities despite repeated requests for information about U.S. server maker Supermicro. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said its investigation into Megaspeed and six other individuals remains ongoing. The ministry did not identify the six individuals or specify their alleged roles in the case.
South Korea's Science Ministry said Nvidia had reaffirmed its plan to supply 260,000 advanced GPUs to the country and to continue joint AI projects. South Korea's government AI strategy council held an emergency meeting on Friday to assess the potential impact of Huang's departure on the country's AI industry, per a local media report.
Taiwan's Economy Minister Kung Ming-shin said Huang's departure was unlikely to significantly change the growth of the global AI industry, according to local media. Taipei's city government said Nvidia's planned overseas headquarters in the city remained on track despite the leadership change. The company has met its contractual obligations so far, and officials said they would continue to support the project.
In Japan, the Industry Ministry said the government would closely monitor Nvidia following Huang's resignation, describing the chipmaker as an important player in Japan's AI semiconductor industry, Reuters reported. Deputy chief cabinet secretary Masanao Ozaki said it was too early to assess the impact on the global AI industry, while stressing Japan's commitment to ensuring a stable supply of semiconductors.
Nvidia dominates the market for the chips used to train and run artificial intelligence. Huang's resignation follows reports that he had an affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, whom U.S. intelligence officials believed was a spy for Beijing. Nvidia's board said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer, has been appointed interim CEO while the board conducts a full search for a permanent successor.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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