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Jensen Huang resigned from Nvidia on Thursday after reports of an affair with a Chinese businesswoman under investigation as a potential national security risk. The scandal comes as lawmakers examine Nvidia chip sales to China ahead of President Trump's visit.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday morning following reports of multiple extramarital relationships, including one with Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman and former executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed whom US officials had been investigating as a potential national security risk. The resignation came after the Nvidia board convened Wednesday night to weigh Huang's future.
Huang had run Nvidia for 33 years since cofounding it in a Denny's restaurant in 1993. On Sunday, the board said it would investigate whether Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, but expressed confidence in his leadership and said it did not believe company secrets or national security had been compromised. The same day, Huang admitted to an extramarital affair but did not name the other party.
In subsequent days, growing national security concerns on Capitol Hill, along with reports that Huang had at least one additional extramarital relationship, appeared to force the board's hand. Huang was out the next morning.
Nvidia's board named longtime CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO. Nvidia reports its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Nvidia's stock (NVDA) fell 12.75% since the start of the week as of Friday's close, erasing roughly $573 billion in market value. Nvidia comprises about 6% of the total value of the S&P 500, meaning its decline has broad implications for many people's investment and retirement accounts.
Huang and some key members of the Trump administration are facing questions from lawmakers about the sales and transfer of Nvidia chips to China. Huang has been called to testify in a closed-door congressional hearing on December 1; lawmakers have said they will subpoena him if he doesn't voluntarily agree to testify. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has agreed to testify next month before the Senate Banking Committee, which has also requested to hear from Huang.
Well before reports emerged that Huang was having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, the advanced chips made by his company were at the center of the race between the U.S. and China to dominate artificial intelligence. The scandal is heightening America's AI rivalry with China ahead of Trump's visit.
Silicon Valley leaders are mourning Huang's swift exit and positing ways that he could return. The founder of defense tech giant Anduril, Palmer Luckey, and Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas have rushed to Huang's defense, while SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has even floated the idea of hiring him.
The resignation of the leader of the world's second-most valuable company has raised huge questions about the future of the AI industry and landed on Washington's doorstep, with national security hawks and tech skeptics in Washington preparing to bring further scrutiny of Huang's relationship with an alleged Chinese intelligence asset.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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