Jensen Huang Pulls Out of ElevenLabs Summit and Anthropic CEO Forum as Nvidia Inquiry Runs

The cancellations are the first sign that the scandal is changing how Huang operates in public. For years he has been the most visible salesman for Nvidia's chips and for the AI industry at large, appearing on stage with customers, partners and heads of government. Stepping back from events hosted by a portfolio company and by one of Nvidia's most important customers suggests he is lowering his profile while the inquiry runs.

Huang admitted in a memo to staff on Sunday that he had had an extramarital affair. "I owe my family and all of you an apology. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry," he wrote. The woman involved, Alice Huang, is an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company and Nvidia customer, whom US officials believe to be a Chinese intelligence asset, according to reporting by the New York Times. She is not related to him.

Nvidia's board said on Sunday it had opened an independent investigation with the help of an outside firm. "While the board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, the board's inquiry will examine all available information," it said. Huang wrote that he supported the investigation and would cooperate fully. China's foreign ministry has rejected the allegations, with an official describing them on Monday as "nothing but smears against China".

Pressure is also building in Washington. In a letter dated last Wednesday, before Huang's admission, the chairmen of three House committees, John Moolenaar of the select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Brian Mast of the foreign affairs committee and Rick Crawford of the intelligence committee, asked Huang to attend a closed-door briefing on November 18 to discuss "Nvidia's security protocols against foreign adversary espionage" and his reported interactions with Alice Huang. The select committee circulated the letter again on Monday.

Investors are weighing whether Huang can keep his job. Nvidia shares fell 7.5% at Monday's open, wiping more than $330 billion off the company's market value, according to the Guardian. "There is clearly risk as discussed that Jensen could be removed as CEO depending on the board investigation and this will add risk to the stock as he is so important to the Nvidia story and strategy globally," Dan Ives, a partner and analyst at Yorkville Ives, told the newspaper. He added that the board had to make its decision independently of Huang's family, two of whose members, his children Madison and Spencer, hold senior roles at the company.

Neither Nvidia nor ElevenLabs has said who, if anyone, will replace Huang at the New York event. The next fixed date is the requested congressional briefing on November 18.