On Sunday, Nvidia said its board of directors opened an independent investigation into whether Jensen Huang had been the "target of a foreign intelligence effort."

Huang shared a memo with Nvidia employees earlier in the day in which he said he had been "unfaithful" to his wife.

In October, The New York Times reported that US officials believed that a Chinese intelligence asset, Alice Huang, had developed a relationship with the Nvidia CEO. Alice Huang has been an executive for Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer.

As Nvidia teeters on the edge of a national security scandal, some business and tech leaders have weighed in. Here's what they're saying.

Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management

On Sunday, Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman suggested people should lead with empathy when it comes to Huang.

"An alert: @JensenHuang is human. And he is an incredible human. Even incredible humans make mistakes," Ackman said on X. "He takes full responsibility as he should. We should all support him and his family. Onward."

Chris McGuire, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

Chris McGuire, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the US Department of Commerce shared blame for the national security threat.

He said the department has enacted policies that make it easy for China to access Nvidia most advanced chips.

"@CommerceGov leadership knew that Jensen was sleeping with a Chinese spy and that Megaspeed was a Chinese cutout, but still actively opposed any policies to tighten export controls on Nvidia chips. Why?" he wrote in an X post on Sunday.

"Commerce could have blocked chip shipments to Megaspeed the moment it found out that it was run by a Chinese spy, but it did not. Commerce has also refused to enforce regulations—which ironically remain on the books—that would require exporters to apply for a license to ship large numbers of AI chips to untrusted entities in many countries, which would prevent China from using shell companies like Megaspeed to buy controlled chips," he added.

McGuire said it's important that Nvidia takes national security issues more seriously, but also called on the US Department of Commerce to "tighten up export controls."

Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives

Dan Ives, a partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives, said on Sunday that the situation is a stain on Huang's reputation.

"This is a black eye moment for Jensen and will spark multiple congressional inquiries at a minimum and will create an overhang," Ives wrote.

In a follow-up post, Ives said investors were asking whether Huang would remain Nvidia's CEO.

He wrote: "The Board investigation will be key and investors are factoring in Jensen will stay on as CEO with a small chance he ultimately is removed or steps aside and the stock is down modestly accordingly."

Ives added that Huang was not replaceable in investors' eyes, which he said was a worry for Wall Street.

Michael McCaul, House Rep.

Texas Rep. Michael McCaul said the US should "immediately pause" shipments of advanced AI chips to China until "we can get to the bottom of this incident and ensure our national security is not being undermined."

"This is a classic move from the CCP's playbook — and another example of why it can never be trusted," he wrote.

Shaun Maguire, partner at Sequoia Capital

Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire shared a few thoughts in an X post on Sunday. Maguire called Huang "one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation," who also did something "incredibly dumb."

He called the decision "bad for America" but doubted Huang had bad intentions.

"Two mistakes don't make a right, and I believe Jensen is irreplaceable for America's AI leadership," Maguire said.

Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO

The world's richest man kept his take short, replying to Shaun Maguire's X post with two words: "I agree."

Ross Gerber, president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management

Ross Gerber also discussed the news in an X post on Sunday. Gerber is the president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management.

"Extremely disappointing to see the news regarding Jensen. A huge error of judgment and at a totally critical time for AI development. Not sure how this shakes out," he wrote.

Jason Calacanis, angel investor and "All-in" host

Calacanis, a startup investor and co-host of the All-In podcast, urged an end to the infighting in the US about the security concerns.

"America is in a war with China and AI is the battlefield," Calacanis wrote on X on Sunday. "We need to win, for the sake of democracy and humanity." He said there was "no time for infighting" and called Huang and Nvidia's technology "a critical target" that needed protection.

Calacanis said the US must "win the race for super intelligence," describing the moment as "defcon 1."

Marc Lehman, independent trader

Lehman, an independent trader who posts market commentary on X, said the allegations could create an overhang for Nvidia's stock.

Lehman called the matter "a black eye moment for Jensen" that could prompt congressional inquiries. He said investors would focus on whether Huang would remain Nvidia's CEO.

Still, Lehman said Huang's position could depend on a board investigation, which poses a risk because he is so central to Nvidia's global strategy.

He added that the episode would increase scrutiny of Nvidia's chip sales to China, "which remains a key battleground issue in DC."

Stephanie Ruhle, MS NOW host and business analyst

Stephanie Ruhle, the host of MSNBC's "Money, Power, Politics" and the network's senior business analyst, said the allegations could destabilize the broader AI industry.

"AI stocks were already performing a high wire act," Ruhle wrote on X. She said the Nvidia situation "could be hugely problematic for the industry," from hyperscalers to CoreWeave.

Nvidia is "the tie that binds them all together and holds the ecosystem up," Ruhle wrote. She added that Huang's "clout & conviction are uniquely powerful."

Gary Black, managing partner of The Future Fund

Black, the managing partner and cofounder of The Future Fund, said he doubts Jensen Huang will be able to remain Nvidia's CEO and warned of near-term pressure on the company's stock.

Black said Huang has "no natural successor within the company" and that questions about his conduct and judgment could lead Nvidia's board to remove him.

He added that he did not see long-term impairment in value, but expected investors to trim Nvidia holdings as uncertainty grows over who could succeed Huang.

Mohamed El-Erian, former CEO of PIMCO

Mohamed El-Erian, an economist and former PIMCO chief executive, said the allegations pose a significant "key-man risk" for Nvidia, questioning whether markets have fully accounted for the prospect of a leadership or governance disruption.

"This will not be easy for the board to navigate," El-Erian wrote on X.

He said in a following post that Nvidia's reassurances may not be enough given the timing and the company's broad importance to technology, financial markets, and the economy.

Investors often struggle to price governance and key-person issues, he added, particularly amid shifting national-security and geopolitical dynamics.

Dmitri Alperovitch, cofounder and ex-CTO of CrowdStrike

Dmitri Alperovitch, a cybersecurity expert and cofounder of CrowdStrike, said in a post on X that the situation left Huang in "a classic position" for potential blackmail, which he argued could have been "hugely detrimental" to Nvidia and the United States.

Alperovitch was more skeptical than others of Huang’s intentions.

He alleged that Megaspeed had been "illicitly funneling billions of dollars of compute to Chinese AI labs" with what he described as "almost certainly his full awareness and support (unless he is a complete idiot, which he is plainly not)."

"This can be called many things, but one thing it is not is not doing 'anything to disadvantage America,'" Alperovitch wrote.

Anshel Sag, technology industry analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy

Anshel Sag, a technology industry analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, who said he has covered Nvidia for decades and knows Huang "very well," expected the issue to be short-lived.

"I think this is going to blow over pretty quickly," he wrote on X.

Sag said he did not expect Nvidia’s board to find anything beyond what Huang had already publicly admitted.

Gene Munster, cofounder and managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management

Gene Munster viewed the reports about Huang through the lens of the competition for AI leadership.

"The fact that China targeted Jensen underscores the geopolitical significance of AI leadership," he wrote on X.

Munster said the issue would require action from both US political parties, arguing that Democrats and Republicans would need to build "lots of data centers."