So he might’ve slept with a Chinese spy. Who among us, right?

I don’t know what global semi stocks needed coming off one of their worst weeks ever, but I know what they didn’t need: The prospect, remote or not, that Jensen Huang may have to resign as CEO of Nvidia amid an investigation into an affair with a woman US intelligence identified as an asset of China’s Ministry of State Security.

“I was unfaithful to my wife,” Huang said, in a surreally candid company email apologizing for the indiscretion. “There is no excuse for what I did.” (I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. There’s an excuse. It’s just not a very good one.)

This saga began around a year ago, when Donald Trump was made aware that Huang Le, a Chinese citizen and executive at Singapore-based data center operator Megaspeed, was likely moonlighting as a spy for Xi Jinping. In addition to general intelligence gathering, she was reportedly tasked with working to soften The White House’s stance towards allowing Chinese firms to purchase cutting-edge Nvidia chips.

When The New York Times initially broke the story late last month, everyone issued a denial, some of them harshly worded. Megaspeed called the reporting “a media trial,” the Chinese embassy in Washington described “groundless slander” and Nvidia said “Jensen’s interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual.” (I actually agree with that latter assessment. People like Jensen get honey-potted all the time.)

Fast forward a week and Jensen’s at the center of what might very well go down as one of the more consequential corporate scandals in living memory. Here’s the CEO and co-founder of a US company leading a technological epoch with the potential to change the course of human history, in bed, literally, with a spy acting on behalf of America’s chief geopolitical adversary.

Do note: Right around the time Trump was allegedly made aware of the plot targeting Huang, Bloomberg ran a sprawling feature piece on Megaspeed, noting that since being spun off from a Chinese gaming firm, the company “imported goods worth more than a thousand times” its cash balance. Most of those imports were Nvidia processors.

According to the Times, Trump “chose not to do anything with the information” when he learned a Chinese intelligence asset might’ve infiltrated Nvidia (and that Jensen might’ve infiltrated a Chinese intelligence asset), fearing any official action might “disrupt [the] chip sales helping to drive the [US] economy and the stock market.”

Six months later (give or take), top aides to Trump circulated a memo explicitly describing Huang Le, who also goes by Alice Huang, as a Chinese spy. The Times, detailing the memo in a separate scoop, said Huang was recruited to “collect intelligence… as part of a drive by Beijing to learn more about American AI chips and potentially influence the company to push for its most advanced chips to be made available to China.”

Needless to say, this makes Huang’s tireless efforts to secure licenses and exemptions allowing for the sale of its less advanced chips into the Chinese market look very, very suspicious. You’re reminded that one such license was granted on the condition that Nvidia pay a 25% kickback to the US.

In his letter to the company, Huang promised to “cooperate fully” with the internal investigation into his relationship and its ramifications both for Nvidia and US national security. “I love our country,” he said. “I am proud and grateful to be an American.”

On Sunday evening, Polymarket opened trading on a contract that’ll pay out if Huang resigns or gets removed by December 31. Around-the-clock proxies for Nvidia’s shares — i.e., crypto-native perpetual futures — dropped sharply.

In announcing the independent investigation into the Huang affair, Nvidia’s board said it currently “has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.”

In their coverage, the Times noted that although US intelligence didn’t initially believe Mr. Huang knew Ms. Huang was a spy, “some senior officials” came to doubt that Jensen “could have remained unaware [of] her intelligence-gathering role” for the duration of their relationship.

Full Jensen Huang company letter:

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.

Throughout my life, my family has given me love and support. They deserve my honesty and loyalty. Instead, I let them down and damaged the life we built together. I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it.

To my wife and family: I love you. I know an apology cannot undo what I have done. I hope our family will heal and that, over time, I can earn back your trust.

To my colleagues at Nvidia, including those I have worked alongside for decades, our board, partners, and shareholders around the world: you deserve better from me. Leading Nvidia is the privilege of my life. My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility. I am fully committed to Nvidia and will work to earn back your confidence.

Regarding the national security concerns raised in news reports, NVIDIA’s Board of Directors has initiated an independent investigation. I support the investigation and will cooperate fully. I love our country and our company, and I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America’s national security. I am proud and grateful to be an American.

My family bears no responsibility for my choices. I do. Please give them privacy.