U.S. company Nvidia, the world’s largest manufacturer of artificial intelligence chips, announced that its founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, had resigned and that the board accepted his resignation on Wednesday, days after a scandal shook the company and the U.S. technology sector.
The board appointed CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO until a permanent successor is chosen, while she will continue overseeing the company’s finances. Board Chair Harvey Jones said the board had complete confidence in Kress and the management team and expected the company’s operations and commitments to customers to continue without interruption.
From the admission to the resignation
The crisis began on Sunday when Huang acknowledged a relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at Singaporean company Megaspeed, one of Nvidia’s major customers. U.S. intelligence says China’s Ministry of State Security recruited her. Huang denied compromising national security or company secrets, while Beijing denied the espionage allegations. The New York Times then revealed a second relationship with a company official who reported directly to him.
The board tasked the law firm Wachtell Lipton with investigating the matter, and the company engaged an outside firm to search for a new CEO from within or outside the company. The names under consideration included Kress and engineer Ian Buck.
Losses of hundreds of billions
Nvidia shares fell more than 10% in Thursday trading after the company lost more than $855 billion in market value since Friday, in a shock that spread to artificial intelligence stocks more broadly. Huang, who founded the company in 1993 and led it for 33 years, is one of the most prominent figures in the artificial intelligence boom. During his tenure, Nvidia secured major deals to supply its chips for artificial intelligence projects in the Gulf states.
Update: Singapore bars Alice Huang from entering the country
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced Thursday that it had barred Alice Huang, the former CEO of Megaspeed at the center of the scandal, from reentering the country after police concluded that she had knowingly provided inaccurate information to minimize her role in the company. The ministry said she had not been investigated on espionage charges and that there was insufficient evidence to charge her, while investigations into Megaspeed and six other people continued. The Financial Times reported that Singapore had complained about the limited assistance provided by U.S. agencies despite repeated requests.
Separately, The Information reported that companies linked to Alice Huang invested in Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek during its second funding round and pledged to supply it with Nvidia Blackwell chips, whose sale to China is prohibited. Three chairmen of committees in the U.S. House of Representatives also asked Jensen Huang to provide a closed-door briefing on November 18.
Update: Huang to testify before Congress
Jensen Huang agreed to testify before the U.S. Congress about his relationship with Alice Huang. The testimony is expected to take place before Thanksgiving in a closed session of several committees, under oath and with a recording. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also expected to be subpoenaed to testify.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the FBI was “of course” investigating reports that Alice Huang had been working for the Chinese government, but that the department had not yet determined whether she was a spy. Forbes reported that Huang had a third relationship with another Nvidia employee.
Images: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0, CC BY-SA 4.0; archive)
