Culper Research was already asking questions about Jensen Huang's unusually close ties to a Chinese executive half a year before the Nvidia spy scandal erupted, according to reporting that has now surfaced. The short seller's early warning suggests that concerns about the relationship were circulating well before the story captured widespread attention. The timing raises questions about what Nvidia and its board knew and when.
The controversy centers on Huang's alleged relationship with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. A New York Times report in October 2025 described business dealings between Alice Huang and Jensen Huang, and the story has since snowballed into a full-blown crisis for the chip giant. Nvidia's board has opened an investigation into the relationship.
The fallout has been swift. Nvidia's stock slid more than 4 percent after the board announced its probe, and securities law experts have suggested the company's earlier statements could draw legal challenges. The race to sue Nvidia is now underway, with investors questioning whether the company misled them about the CEO's ties.
The scandal threatens to complicate Nvidia's lobbying efforts to loosen U.S. chip export restrictions and maintain access to China's lucrative AI market. Huang has already pulled out of appearances at the ElevenLabs Summit and an Anthropic event as the controversy continues to build.