Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is facing fresh allegations of an extramarital affair with a senior company executive who reports directly to him, deepening a controversy that has put his leadership of the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence chipmaker under scrutiny.
A report published by The New York Times on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, identified the executive as Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare.
The newspaper cited five people who previously worked at the company and were familiar with the alleged relationship.
The 63-year-old Huang and Powell, 48, are both married to other people.
The allegations emerged days after Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife in a message to Nvidia employees, prompting the company’s board to launch an independent investigation into a separate relationship involving a woman linked to a suspected Chinese intelligence operation.
The latest report has intensified questions about Huang’s conduct, particularly because Powell is among the executives who report directly to him. It also arrived as the company’s board reportedly considered whether to remove its longtime chief executive.
According to The New York Times, Huang allegedly had a relationship with Powell, who joined Nvidia in 2008 and later rose to become one of its senior executives.
Powell leads Nvidia’s healthcare business, which focuses on applying the company’s computing and artificial intelligence technology to medical research, imaging and healthcare applications.
She is reportedly among approximately 60 executives who report directly to Huang, placing her within the chief executive’s senior leadership circle.
The newspaper’s sources said the relationship raised concerns because of the reporting line between the two executives.
Nvidia’s workplace conduct rules instruct employees to avoid personal relationships that create conflicts of interest, according to reports on the company’s code of conduct.
The report also detailed an alleged encounter between Huang and Powell at a hotel in San Jose, California, during Nvidia’s GTC developer conference in March 2026.
Three people briefed on the incident told The New York Times that the pair were seen behaving affectionately at the hotel.
A bystander reportedly recorded their interaction on a mobile phone.
The newspaper reported that Huang’s security team noticed the individual filming and approached them. The security personnel allegedly pulled the bystander aside and asked them to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
However, the newspaper said it had not viewed the video.
When a New York Times reporter contacted Huang and asked about his relationship with Powell, he reportedly replied:
“I don’t think you should be talking to me directly.”
He then ended the call, according to the newspaper’s account.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment following the publication of the allegations. Powell also had not publicly confirmed the reported relationship.
The allegations involving Powell surfaced as Nvidia was already dealing with controversy surrounding Huang’s reported relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed International.
US intelligence officials reportedly suspected Alice Huang of working with Chinese intelligence and facilitating the movement of Nvidia’s advanced artificial intelligence chips to Chinese companies. Megaspeed had become one of Nvidia’s major customers in Southeast Asia, raising concerns about possible violations of US export restrictions.
The allegations prompted questions about whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation and whether sensitive company information could have been exposed.
On November 8, Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife in a message to Nvidia employees. He apologised to his family and colleagues but did not identify the woman involved.
In the message, Huang wrote:
“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did.”
He also accepted responsibility for his actions and said he had fallen short of his obligations to Nvidia’s employees, board and shareholders.
Nvidia’s board subsequently announced an independent investigation into reports that Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The company said it had no reason to believe that US national security or its trade secrets had been compromised.
The Chinese government has dismissed the espionage allegations as baseless. Huang has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing in connection with the reported relationship.
