Fact Check: Did Jensen Huang say he’ll move to China and restart Nvidia if he’s fired?
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA: Amid debate and controversy surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s reported affair with an alleged Chinese spy, a rumor began circulating on social media platforms claiming Huang said he would move to China and start Nvidia there if he was fired. The claim has sparked criticism and speculation, prompting a fact-check.
Claim: Jensen Huang will move to China if fired
The claim surfaced as a post on X, which stated, “JUST IN: JENSEN HUANG SAYS HE WILL MOVE TO CHINA AND START NVIDIA AGAIN IF THEY FIRE HIM.”
The post was shared by multiple accounts, garnering almost half a million views as of this writing. It has drawn conflicting reactions from social media users.
While many appeared to believe the claim to be an authentic statement by Huang, few others expressed skepticism and called for a fact-check of the viral rumor.
Fact Check: Jensen Huang made no such remark
The claim, however, is false, as there are no records of Huang saying that he will move to China, where he will start Nvidia if they fire him.
There are no official statements, announcements, press conferences, or social media posts from the Nvidia CEO about moving to China if he is fired.
If Huang had really made such a statement, credible news and business outlets would have widely covered it, making headlines given the sensationalism of the claim.
Moreover, the X account that posted the claim is not credible and has posted several such fake and exaggerated claims, such as President Donald Trump considering appointing himself as the CEO of Nvidia. Though not explicitly a satire account, it is likely that the posts are intended as parody.
Nvidia probes China spy allegations against Jensen Huang
The claim surfaced amid the mounting scrutiny against Huang after reports linked him to a businesswoman suspected by US intelligence officials of working for China, after which he admitted to being unfaithful to his wife.
The controversy was sparked by a New York Times report according to which Alice Huang, a former executive at the Singapore-based cloud company Megaspeed, had an extramarital relationship with Huang and was allegedly recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to gather information on the CEO.
The report also alleges that she shared information with Beijing and may have sought to influence Nvidia's position on supplying advanced chips to China.
The company’s board has now launched an independent probe into reports that Huang may have been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.
