Nvidia are the top faller on the Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) in early trading.

Despite the chip giant's troubles, the has jumped by 661 points, or 1.3%, to 51,947 points in early trading.

Twenty three of the 30 stocks who make up the are in positive territory, with investors cheered by a 4.7% fall in the oil price today.

Jensen Huang's personal fortune has taken a heavy hit too.

CEO owns around 3.61% of the company's stock. At the end of last week, that stake was worth $162bn.

But today's share price tumble means its value has dropped to $150bn, after admitted cheating on his wife.

This morning's sell-off has pushed Nvidia's shares down to a seven-month low.

Newsflash: Nvidia's shares have dropped sharply at the start of trading in New York, as Wall Street gives its verdict on the company's spying scandal.

Shares in the chip maker fell by almost 7.5% as soon as the opening bell rang out, as investors respond to the news that CEO has admitted having an extramarital affair – reportedly with a Chinese spy.

That knocked the shares down to $172.75 each, down from $186.64 on Friday night.

That, by my maths, wipes $335bn off valuation, following the board's decision to launch an independent investigation into whether has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.

It lowers the company's value to around $4.16tn, down from $4.5tn on Friday night.

More than $200bn could be wiped off Nvidia's value when Wall Street trading begins, in 15 minutes.

The company ended last week worth $4.5tn, making it the most valuable company in the world.

So with shares down around 6% in premarket trading, that market cap is set to drop.

As if Nvidia didn't have enough to worry about, it also faces a new challenges from Alphabet.

parent company is rolling out a broader array of artificial intelligence chips, Bloomberg reports, adding:

The company is introducing two new variations of its tensor processing units, or TPUs, custom-made semiconductors that help develop and run AI software. The latest chips will address the need for confidential computing and help models access a wider range of information when handling queries.

The plot thickens!

The are reporting that pitched an AI chips deal to China-based investors, touting her ability to secure Nvidia's coveted GPUs and her commercial relationship with Chinese tech giant Alibaba.

They say:

In early 2025, Alice Huang and her business partner Kang Wei sought investment for a south-east Asia data centre project worth several hundred million dollars, according to two investors pitched on the deal.

The pair said they had "no problem securing GPUs" as a key pillar of the deal and cited Alibaba as a client of the project, according to one investor present.

As covered earlier (here), a US hedge fund claimed six months ago that Alibaba had been secretly funding – Alice Huang's Singapore-based cloud computing company….

Polymarket are running a prediction market on whether Jensen Huang will resign, or be removed, by the end of the year.

It's currently running at 15%, suggesting that CEO is expected to survive until 2027…..

investment director at, says:

"Stock markets ended last week digesting one AI-focused crisis and they have started the new one assessing another.

"AI has driven markets higher and it has started to drive them lower again. For good or ill, it is certain to be the dominant story for the foreseeable future.

"Renewed pressure on Nvidia shares has added to the uncertainty surrounding the sector, just as markets were starting to show tentative signs of stabilising after the most significant wobble to date in the ongoing AI boom. With investors already questioning the scale of spending on AI infrastructure and the returns it will generate, sentiment towards technology stocks remains fragile.

The news that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy is likely to spur Democrats to enforce tighter oversight of the AI sector.

With the Democratic party winning control of both chambers of Congress in last week's midterms, they will soon have investigative powers to look into issues of concern.

Delaware Senanor Chris Coons wrote on X on Saturday that "Congress will investigate and get answers" relating to Nvidia, saying:

The more I learn about the insane relationship between the Trump Administration, Chinese spies, and AI billionaires, the more I'm convinced there is nothing this administration does that isn't corrupt.

Congress will investigate and get answers.

Nvidia is set to miss out on a Wall Street reccovery today.

In the futures markets, the tech-focused 100 index is up 1%, extending its recovery on Friday afternoon.

The futures contract for the , the famous (but narrow) US stock index is up 1.1%.

On the streets of Beijing today, people interviewed by the newswire were mostly unaware of affair and expressed scepticism at claims that he was linked to a Chinese spy.

One man surnamed said that he did not think Huang's affair was "a big deal", doubting the incident would affect a potential meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the APEC summit next week.

, a 56-year-old retiree, told AFP it was "a real shame" for Huang to have been caught cheating, as the entrepreneur is widely admired in China for his success in an "extremely critical" part of the tech industry.

The White House also has questions to answer about the Nvidia crisis.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that US secretary of state Marco Rubio drafted a memo which circulated among top policymakers in the Trump administration, citing intelligence that Nvidia's chief executive, Jensen Huang, was in a close relationship with a Chinese spy.

The memo was circulated to administration officials with high-level security clearances ahead of Donald Trump's trip to China in May.

A New York-based short-selling firm raised concerns about the chipmaker's business in China and its chief executive, Jensen Huang six months ago.

Back in May, released a report which claimed that Nvidia had "a significant China problem".

The report disputed Nvidia's claim that its business in China went to "zero" after the US introduced trade restrictions on AI chips in April 2025, arguing that Nvidia chips were still reaching China through "sales to non-restricted intermediaries and diversion."

estimated that "over 20% of Nvidia's FY 2026 compute revenues remained driven by China", and that the company was still servicing Chinese demand via sales to non-restricted intermediaries and diversion.

The report also identified that Huang had maintained "an uncomfortably close relationship with , a Chinese national"….

…and claimed that – the Singapore-based cloud computing company – has been secretly financed by via a series of apparent shell companies.

warned:

We are short Nvidia and think shares are headed lower.

Nvidia's shares have indeed fallen since May, when they traded around $225 each. Last Friday they closed at $186, and are expected to drop today.

shares are still expected to drop around 5% when Wall Street opens at 9.30am in New York (or 2.30pm GMT).

But while the company has been plunged into unusual uncertainty, head of equity research at argues that the wider AI industry still presents a big opportunity:

"Underlying demand for AI computing power remains exceptionally strong, while constraints around power and data-centre capacity are not going away.

That doesn't mean the risks haven't increased. The political debate around data-centre development has become more challenging in the US, while the situation around Nvidia creates additional uncertainty. At the same time, policymakers have to balance those concerns against the strategic importance of remaining competitive with China in AI. Nothing we have seen so far changes our fundamental view of the longer-term AI opportunity.

While it's rare for a CEO to be caught up in an alleged spying operation, romantic entanglements involving high-profile executives do happen – and are often career-disrupting.

There are several example of chief executives who lost their jobs after conducting workplace relationships.

In 2019, for example, chief executive officer, , was forced out of the fast-food giant after violating company policy by engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee.

Back in 2012, US defence company incoming president and chief executive officer resigned over a relationship with a subordinate.

European CEOs have faced similar conseqences. In September 2025, dismissed its chief executive, , after he conducted an "undisclosed romantic relationship" with a subordinate that breached its code of business conduct.

And lost his job as CEO of in 2023 after failing to disclose full details of personal relationships with colleagues.

These cases aren't directly comparible to the Nvidia case – doesn't work for the company, so her relationship with isn't a "supervisor-subordinate" one.

predicted it will at the very least spark multiple congressional inquiries and "create an overhang on the stock for a myriad of reasons."

In the near-term, is expected to keep his job but risks being removed as CEO depending on the board's probe, said in a statement.

"This will also increase major scrutiny regarding selling chips to China, which remains a key battleground issue in DC."

The controversy surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang could complicate the recovery in the stock market after last week's sell-off, warns senior market analyst at Capital.com.

explains:

Nvidia's board has stressed that it has no reason to believe company secrets were compromised and continues to express confidence in Huang's leadership. Nevertheless, shares fell more than 3% in out-of-hours trading, highlighting the potential reputational damage.

Given Huang's central role in Nvidia's success and the wider AI investment narrative, even speculation about leadership uncertainty could unsettle investors. However, there is currently no confirmed indication that he will step down, and the controversy does not necessarily change the company's underlying demand outlook.