Asian governments react to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s exit

Nvidia's board launched an independent investigation on Sunday, November 8, after reports that Jensen Huang had been targeted by a Chinese spy operation. Huang acknowledged an affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based chip company Megaspeed. The exit has prompted governments across Asia — Nvidia's deepest partner region outside the United States — to respond on supply, projects, and existing cases rather than with a single coordinated position.

China's foreign ministry rejected the spy allegations on November 10 as groundless and a smear against Beijing. A ministry spokesperson reiterated opposition to export controls that disrupt global supply chains, and said it was unaware of reports tying restricted Nvidia chips to a Shanghai data center associated with Alice Huang. Reuters' review of procurement notices, investment plans and corporate disclosures indicates more than $3 billion in Chinese AI computing projects rely on Nvidia's restricted processors, many of which U.S. export controls make difficult for Chinese firms to obtain.

Singapore's case has run longer. Authorities seized Alice Huang's passport in June 2025 while investigating possible false declarations over server purchases, keeping her available for questioning since she was not based there. In February 2026, police found insufficient evidence that she had committed offenses, but concluded she knowingly provided inaccurate information about her role at Megaspeed; she received a warning, was barred from re-entering Singapore, and got her passport back. The Ministry of Home Affairs said it received limited U.S. assistance despite repeated requests for information about server maker Supermicro, and that its probe into Megaspeed and six other individuals continues.

South Korea, whose Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix supply memory for Nvidia's AI processors, moved fastest on commitments: the Science Ministry said Nvidia reaffirmed plans to supply 260,000 advanced GPUs and continue joint AI projects, while the government's AI strategy council met Friday in an emergency session on the fallout. In Taiwan, Economy Minister Kung Ming-shin said the leadership change was unlikely to significantly alter global AI industry growth, and Taipei's city government said Nvidia's planned overseas headquarters remains on track. Japan's Industry Ministry said it would closely monitor Nvidia, and deputy chief cabinet secretary Masanao Ozaki called it too early to judge the global impact while stressing stable semiconductor supply.

What remains open is whether commitments survive scrutiny: whether the 260,000-GPU figure and joint projects hold through a board investigation, whether the $3 billion in Chinese projects finds chips under export controls, and how far Singapore's ongoing case — and its unanswered requests to U.S. authorities — expands. Watch also whether other Asian governments that merely pledged monitoring convert that into formal supply or procurement guarantees.