Nvidia’s Jensen Huang resigns in disgrace amid snowballing scandals

Jensen Huang, the founder and now former CEO of Nvidia. (Reuters/Yonhap)

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, 63, the rockstar of the semiconductor sector who came to symbolize the global artificial intelligence revolution, has resigned in disgrace following controversy prompted by allegations of multiple affairs.

Nvidia, a key supplier of semiconductors in the global AI industry, has lost its founder and all-powerful leader, leading to growing uncertainties surrounding the massive business ecosystem that the company has built. 

Nvidia announced Huang’s resignation on Thursday morning (local time). Colette Kress, 59, the company’s chief financial officer, has been appointed to serve as CEO for the time being. 

Huang’s departure from management is his first in 33 years since co-founding Nvidia in 1993. 

Even when Huang acknowledged his extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed whom the FBI identified as an intelligence asset for China’s Ministry of State Security, Nvidia’s board of directors initially had his back. 

However, the situation took a drastic turn when The New York Times reported that the former CEO also had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, an Nvidia vice president who reported directly to him. 

Huang eventually stepped down from his role when it was revealed that his security team had asked someone who captured an intimate interaction between Huang and Powell on their phone to sign a nondisclosure agreement. 

Huang’s resignation carries major ramifications not only for Nvidia, but for the global AI industry in general. Unlike other companies, Huang was Nvidia’s chief decision-maker — with approximately 60 executives reporting directly to him, he was responsible for ruling on technology development, marketing, investment strategies and business relations.

Many have voiced concern about a potential management vacuum due to the fact that he has neither designated nor helped groom a clear successor. After Huang’s resignation made the news, Nvidia shares plunged over 10% in the premarket hours. 

Huang’s resignation is only the beginning of his troubles. The FBI is currently investigating the involvement of possible Chinese spy agencies. Additionally, the chairs of three congressional committees — the House Foreign Affairs Committee, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party — have requested that the former CEO attend a closed-door joint briefing on Nov. 18. If Huang does not acquiesce, they warned that they are prepared to issue a subpoena.

As this scandal snowballs into issues regarding US national security and Washington’s technology restrictions on China, it is emerging as a variable that could have major implications for US-China relations.

By Kim Won-chul, Washington correspondent; Lee Woo-yun, staff reporter