Asian governments react to departure of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
After the exit of Jensen Huang, head of US chipmaker Nvidia, authorities in China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan have responded in different ways, from supply assurances to updates on investigations.
Governments across Asia have reacted in varying ways to the departure of Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, the US chipmaker whose processors are widely used in artificial intelligence. Some have moved to confirm chip supply commitments, while others are watching the effect on local projects or commenting on ongoing investigations. On Sunday, November 8, Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation after reports that Huang had been targeted by a Chinese spy operation; he acknowledged an affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, a chip company based in Singapore.
China
China's foreign ministry on November 10 rejected claims that a Chinese businesswoman linked to the former Nvidia chief was a spy, calling them groundless and a smear against Beijing. On Friday a spokesperson repeated the country's opposition to export controls that disrupt global supply chains and said the ministry was unaware of reports tying restricted Nvidia chips to a Shanghai data center associated with Alice Huang. According to Reuters' review of procurement notices, investment plans and corporate disclosures, the exit has also created uncertainty around more than $3 billion in Chinese AI computing projects that depend on Nvidia's restricted processors. Many of those chips fall under US export controls.
Singapore
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs says authorities seized Alice Huang's passport in June 2025 as part of an inquiry into possible false declarations over server purchases. She was not based in Singapore, and police kept the passport so she would be available for questioning. The inquiry looked at whether servers shipped from Singapore to Malaysia were later sent to other countries without proper declaration. In February 2026 police found insufficient evidence of offenses, but concluded she had knowingly given inaccurate information about her role at Megaspeed. She received a warning and was barred from re-entering Singapore, and her passport was returned that month. Singapore also said it received limited help from US authorities regarding server maker Supermicro. The investigation into Megaspeed and six other individuals continues.
South Korea
South Korea's Science Ministry said Nvidia had reaffirmed its plan to supply 260,000 advanced GPUs to the country and to continue joint AI projects. The government's AI strategy council held an emergency meeting on Friday to assess the potential effect on the industry.
Taiwan
Economy Minister Kung Ming-shin said the departure was unlikely to significantly alter global AI industry growth. Taipei's city government said Nvidia's planned overseas headquarters in the city remained on track.
Japan
Japan's Industry Ministry said it would closely monitor Nvidia. Deputy chief cabinet secretary Masanao Ozaki said it was too early to judge the impact, stressing Japan's commitment to a stable semiconductor supply.
