By KELVIN CHAN AP Technology Writer
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned Thursday after his extramarital affair raised national security concerns, in a spectacular downfall for the longtime head of the chipmaker, a vital player in the artificial intelligence boom.
Huang, who has been synonymous with Nvidia since he co-founded it more than 30 years ago, faced growing calls to resign following his affair with a Chinese businesswoman who reportedly was also acting as a spy for Beijing. His troubles compounded late Wednesday when media reports said Huang had another affair with an Nvidia employee who reported to him.
The ouster sets off a scramble to find a permanent replacement to lead Nvidia, which did not have a succession plan. The board will consider candidates from both inside and outside the company, the company said in a statement.
The company named Colette Kress, the executive vice president and chief financial officer, as interim chief executive. She became CFO in 2013, overseeing the company’s global finance operations. Before that, she worked for three years at Cisco and spent 13 years at Microsoft.
In a statement Thursday, Kress said that Nvidia’s “strength has always come from its people” and that she was “committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”
The board of directors said Thursday it had also named its first-ever chairman, Harvey C. Jones, an entrepreneur and venture investor.
Nvidia shares tumble at the opening bell
Shares of Nvidia tumbled 14% at the opening bell Thursday but pared their losses by midmorning, when they were down 4.2% as the tech-heavy Nasdaq turned positive. The company is due to report earnings Tuesday.
Nvidia’s board had gathered to discuss Huang’s future after revelations about his affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International suspected of being a Chinese government agent. The two are not related.
In its first statement since the scandal broke, Megaspeed, a provider of cloud computing services for AI, said Thursday that it takes its obligation to comply with U.S. export control laws “extremely seriously.” The company prominently touts a partnership with Nvidia on its website.
“Megaspeed is committed to working constructively and transparently with the U.S. government,” said the statement signed by its chairman and CEO, Tan Yong Pong, who also goes by James Tan.
Nvidia has said it had “no reason to believe” that either national security or its secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information.
Lawmakers still want to question Huang
After Huang’s exit, U.S. lawmakers were still insisting on questioning him about about his interactions with Alice Huang and the company’s security protocols against espionage.
Rep. Brian Mast, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the committee was in contact with Huang’s team as recently as Wednesday night after putting in an initial request for an interview on Nov. 5. Mast said Huang would receive a subpoena to compel his appearance, if necessary.
Last month, The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence agencies discovered that Huang had developed a close relationship with Alice Huang — and determined that she was feeding information directly to Beijing. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the FBI was investigating.
Trump said Thursday that Huang “has done a fantastic job” and added that former Apple CEO Tim Cook was the only one who could replace him. Huang, like many top tech CEOs, was close with Trump.
Megaspeed faced allegations last year that it was illicitly shipping advanced Nvidia computer chips into China, but in December said there was “no evidence” of such exports.
Singaporean authorities said Thursday that they questioned Alice Huang and confiscated her passport last year as part of an investigation into Megaspeed. They concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence that she had committed a crime but suspected she provided “inaccurate information” to downplay her role at Megaspeed and barred her from returning to the country.
China denies attempting to ensnare executive
China has denied that it attempted to ensnare Jensen Huang, who headed one of the world’s most valuable companies. Nvidia has become a leader in making chips that power AI, and Huang has lobbied Washington to loosen limits on sales of Nvidia chips to China. In January, he won Trump’s approval to sell Nvidia’s H200 chips to China.
Megaspeed said Thursday that it has cooperated with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which handles enforcement of national security restrictions on technology exports, and was ready to “cooperate fully with any other relevant U.S. government authority.”
It said it has hired a U.S. law firm to conduct a “comprehensive census” of its computer chips and to verify its export controls.
“Megaspeed welcomes appropriate government scrutiny and is committed to demonstrating through concrete actions that it operates responsibly, transparently, and in accordance with applicable U.S. laws,” it said.
Apart from questions over national security, Megaspeed’s finances also have drawn attention. Its total assets soared roughly 90-fold from late 2023 to 2024, to almost $3 billion, according to Singapore corporate records.
Revenue surged to over $294 million in 2024 from none in 2023.
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Associated Press writers Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong and Kevin Freking and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.