Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns in wake of affair with woman suspected of spying for China

Jensen Huang resigned as CEO of AI tech giant Nvidia effective immediately following a scandal involving an alleged spy, the company’s board of directors announced Thursday.

The decision came amid an investigation into Huang’s affair with a woman U.S. intelligence agencies suspect was spying for China. President Trump said this week the FBI is investigating romantic and business ties between Huang and suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang. The two aren’t related.

Nvidia’s board had been preparing to oust Huang, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday night, plans that were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Huang’s ouster also follows a New York Times report Wednesday that five employees at Nvidia came forward alleging Huang was romantically involved with a subordinate, Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare.

The Times also reported Huang and Powell, who are both married to other people, were caught on video being affectionate at a conference in March, according to two Nvidia employees. The Times has not seen the video and CBS News has not verified the report.

After Huang’s resignation was announced Thursday, the Reuters news agency reported that Huang also had an intimate relationship with a second employee, according to two people familiar with the matter. The agency only identified the employee as a woman.

The company’s interim CEO will be Colette Kress, who is currently Nvidia’s chief financial officer and will continue in that role.

“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption,” Harvey Jones, who was announced as the company’s first board chair, said in a statement.

Kress has been Nvidia’s CFO since she joined the company in 2013. She previously worked in finance roles at tech companies like Cisco and Microsoft for nearly 25 years.

Nvidia was co-founded by Huang in 1993. It became one of the most valuable companies in the world by designing the powerful semiconductors that fuel many of the world’s leading AI firms, making its technology highly sensitive and subject to export controls limiting sales to China.

Nvidia’s stock plunged as news emerged of the company’s turmoil, potentially erasing almost $500 billion in value. In Thursday’s trading, the stock price closed down 4.3% at $166.19.

Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was an executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based data center company whose website touts its partnership with Nvidia.

Megaspeed grew with the help of access to Nvidia’s restricted AI computer chips. According to U.S. investigators, Alice Huang was able to gain access to 240,000 chips that were banned from being exported to China. Megaspeed is under investigation in the U.S. and Singapore for allegedly smuggling those chips into China.

In Washington, top Democrats on Capitol Hill have expressed concerns over whether Jensen Huang’s ties to Alice Huang may have compromised U.S. national security.

Following Jensen Huang’s resignation, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said his departure doesn’t absolve him or the company from the scandal.

“Mr. Huang, NVIDIA executives, and NVIDIA’s board of directors still owe Congress answers about the company’s compliance with U.S. export controls,” Warren said in a statement.

Before Huang resigned, Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives & Co., told CBS News the departure could help China in the competition between Beijing and the U.S.

“With him out as CEO, China could significantly narrow the gap versus the U.S.,” Ives said. He added: “The problem now is that there’s no replacement for Jensen. It’s a black eye moment for him, for Nvidia, and actually the U.S. tech industry. I’d say it’s dark day for, you know, U.S. technology.”

Following Thursday morning’s announcement, Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social platform that there was “only one man” who could replace Huang: former Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Mr. Trump had a close relationship with Huang, who has attended AI-focused White House events and traveled with Mr. Trump to China. Late last year, Mr. Trump granted Nvidia the right to sell advanced H200 chips to “approved customers” in China, with the U.S. government getting a 25% cut — a major coup for Huang, who has long sought to sell more technology to the Chinese market. The deal did not cover Nvidia’s even more advanced Blackwell and Rubin systems. 

In a radio interview Thursday, Mr. Trump brought up that he gave Huang a National Medal of Science earlier this year. “What a horrible thing that is,” he said of the situation involving Huang, adding, “That’s so sad to see that happen.”

The president also said in an interview: “What a horrible thing that is

In a statement accompanying her appointment as interim CEO, Kress said that the company’s focus will be on “serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders.”

“NVIDIA’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years,” Kress said.

The board said it will be conducting a search for a permanent CEO and will consider internal and external candidates.