Jensen Huang still scheduled for Nvidia's GTC event as criticism and scrutiny increases

Embattled Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has cancelled plans to attend several technology summits, but he is still listed as the main speaker for his company's GTC event in Washington next month.

He is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on the first day of Nvidia's flagship exhibition, running from December 1 to 3.

That is assuming that Mr Huang, who admitted to having an affair with a woman who US investigators say is a Chinese spy, does not resign under intense public scrutiny.

On Monday, his daughter, who also works for the company, scrapped plans to take part in a South Korean technology event due to the controversy surrounding her father. That led to awkward moments as reporters in South Korea pushed Nvidia employees for answers.

Videos of reporters and photographers pursuing Nvidia officials with questions spread on social media.

"Can you give us a statement?" at least one reporter shouted, shortly before a photographer appeared to bump into a wall as Nvidia staff members were leaving the venue in South Korea.

Scrutiny of Nvidia's chief executive has only increased since Sunday, when he admitted to cheating on his wife.

Over recent years, Mr Huang has irked officials in Washington by lobbying hard to change US technology export laws aimed at preventing countries such as China from obtaining some of the world's most powerful processors.

Supporters of those laws say they protect the country's lead in the increasingly important AI race, and keep countries the US views as adversaries at a distance.

Mr Huang, however, felt differently, and insisted that it hurt the US if the country's products were not used in certain markets such as China.

His admission of a relationship with a technology executive, Alice Huang, who the US has accused of being a spy for China, confirmed the worst fears of the Nvidia chief executive's critics.

Reports in the New York Times, The Washington Post and Bloomberg have suggested that Nvidia exerted influence to try to end US government investigations into whether or not certain US technology was being smuggled into China.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress, meanwhile, have increased calls for investigations into Mr Huang's affair and his company's actions in recent years.

"If Jensen Huang was giving information to this individual that turns out was a Chinese spy, then yes, absolutely he put national security at risk," Republican Representative Brian Mast told reporters on Tuesday.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Mr Huang, and told reporters that Nvidia's chief executive insisted he did not know that Alice Huang was a spy.

Critics of Mr Huang and Nvidia, however, say whether or not he knew she was a spy misses the point.

Huang's 2025 Washington GTC revisited

Almost a year ago when he took the stage in Washington at the company's GPU Technology Conference exhibition, the atmosphere was remarkably different.

The mood surrounding AI had yet to sour to the extent that it has among many in the US, and Mr Trump was encouraging US companies and technology executives to invest, build and not worry about regulations.

At the same time, however, some White House officials and members of Congress were concerned about US technology potentially being obtained by China.

Mr Huang never changed his tune, however, and kept pushing to be able to sell his company's powerful CPUs and GPUs to China.

After speaking for almost two hours at the GTC exhibition, he later joined US Energy Secretary Chris Wright to talk about partnerships and take questions from reporters.

"The benefit to the United States when it comes to American technology being available in China comes down to winning the hearts and minds of their developers," he said, insisting that more sales and the US "technology stack" becoming the global standard would offset any security risk.

Mr Huang then boasted of Nvidia's history of working with China.

"Nvidia has been in China for 30 years. They have been accommodating and they've been welcoming," he said. "Half of the world's AI researchers are in China."

Mr Huang insisted that the US needed to work hard to provide technology to those customers. "That's to the benefit of the US."

He was asked several times about concerns raised from some about the danger of selling US technology to China, which could hypothetically be used against the US.

Mr Huang repeatedly disagreed with the premise of the questions.

Show caption: A screengrab from video footage obtained on November 9 shows…

"America's Pentagon would never use some other technology from an adversarial country, neither will theirs. It's very sensible," he said.

A few weeks later, Mr Trump said he agreed with Mr Huang and would change export policy to allow for China to buy some of Nvidia's H200 chips.

Fast-forward to the current scandal and reports surrounding Nvidia, and it seems that Mr Huang's infidelity might be the least of anyone's worries.

Instead, critics who accuse Nvidia of disregarding US national security might now insist that Mr Huang's liaison with an alleged spy is a symptom of poor governance at the company.