Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s co-founder and longtime leader, resigned as the company’s president and chief executive, the world’s largest producer of artificial-intelligence chips said. The board accepted his resignation on Wednesday.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress was appointed interim chief executive while retaining her existing position. The board will begin searching for a permanent leader and consider both internal and external candidates.
The Chinese connection
The crisis began on Sunday, when Huang acknowledged an affair with Alice Huang, an employee of Singapore-based Megaspeed, one of Nvidia’s major customers. U.S. intelligence believes she was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security. Megaspeed is reportedly under investigation in the United States over possible evasion of export controls on chips, while Beijing rejected the espionage allegations.
Huang denied putting national security or the company’s secrets at risk. The board commissioned the law firm Wachtell Lipton to investigate. The New York Times also reported on Wednesday that Huang had a second affair with Nvidia Vice President of Healthcare Kimberly Powell, who reported directly to him.
$855 billion wiped out
Nvidia shares fell more than 10% on Thursday. Since Friday, the company has lost more than $855 billion in market capitalization. Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Huang was prepared to testify before Congress as early as next week. Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 and led the company for 33 years, turning it into a symbol of the artificial-intelligence boom.
Update: Singapore bars Alice Huang from re-entering
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs said on Thursday that Alice Huang, the former CEO of Megaspeed, which became the focus of the scandal, has been barred from re-entering the country. The ministry said police determined that she had knowingly provided inaccurate information to understate her role in the company. The ministry stressed that she had not been investigated for espionage and that there was insufficient evidence to charge her; the investigation into Megaspeed and six other people is continuing. The Financial Times reported that Singapore also expressed regret over the limited assistance from U.S. agencies despite repeated requests.
The Information reported that companies linked to Alice Huang invested in the second funding round of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and promised to supply it with Nvidia Blackwell chips, whose sale to China is prohibited. In addition, the chairmen of three U.S. House committees asked Jensen Huang to give them a closed-door briefing on November 18.
Update: Huang will testify before Congress
Jensen Huang agreed to testify before the U.S. Congress about his relationship with Alice Huang. U.S. media reported that the questioning will take place before Thanksgiving in a closed-door session before several committees, probably under oath and with a video recording. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also expected to be summoned to Congress.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the FBI is “of course” examining information about Alice Huang’s work for the Chinese government, but the Justice Department has not yet concluded whether she was a spy. Forbes reported that Huang had a third affair with another Nvidia employee.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0; archive), social media
