San Francisco (United States) (AFP) – CEO Jensen Huang’s future with Nvidia was unclear Thursday as the chip giant’s board was reported to have met after revelations he had two extramarital affairs, including with a woman accused of spying for China. The scandal has sent shares of the multi-trillion dollar behemoth plunging and left uncertain the fate of Huang, who has been a key promoter of the artificial intelligence boom.
Huang, 63, has spent years lobbying against curbs on sales of advanced AI chips to China, and US President Donald Trump last year cleared Nvidia’s H200 chips for export there over objections from Beijing’s critics in both parties. The chip giant’s board met on Wednesday to weigh Huang’s future, according to CNN and the New York Times. Nvidia has not made any statements about the outcome of the meeting. Beijing has rejected the spying allegations.
Nvidia shares were down around 25 percent from their all-time high in early October, and the scandal has raised questions over who could replace Huang if he is ousted. The rapidly unfolding story exploded after reports that Huang, who has been married to Lori Huang for over 40 years, was involved in an extramarital romance. The Nvidia CEO has since admitted to having an affair, reportedly with Alice Huang, who was a senior executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed.
US intelligence reportedly circulated a memo this past spring alleging Alice Huang was an asset of China’s Ministry of State Security. Alice Huang was among the attendees at a dinner hosted by Jensen Huang at a Chinese restaurant in Taipei on May 22, 2025, during Computex, the island’s top tech expo. At one point, Jensen Huang can be seen putting his arm around Alice Huang as she kisses him on the right cheek, press livestreams show. She visited Taiwan a total of eight times in 2024 and 2025, a Taiwanese government minister said Thursday.
Nvidia’s board had already announced on Sunday a probe of what it called reporting that Jensen Huang had been the target of a “foreign intelligence effort.” Then came on Wednesday New York Times reporting that the Nvidia co-founder was involved in a second extramarital affair, saying there was video evidence of the 63-year-old executive being affectionate with Nvidia’s vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell. Powell, 48, has been a public face of Nvidia’s efforts to expand the chip technology into higher education and health care and was speaking at a San Jose, California conference where they “were seen being affectionate at the hotel” by bystanders, the Times reported.
The chip giant’s code of conduct tells associates to avoid conflicts of interest, and cites the example of “personal relationships.” “We avoid situations where our actions might create a conflict — actual or potential — between our personal gain and our obligations to Nvidia,” the code says.
– Possible ouster –
Nvidia’s bylaws require a majority of the 11 board directors to remove Huang as CEO. But he would retain his board seat, which could only be taken away by shareholders. Several directors want to appoint Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim leader, according to US news outlet Semafor. An outside firm is helping the board identify potential replacements, Bloomberg News reported. Huang has repeatedly avoided naming a successor when the question is brought up.
The New York Times earlier reported that the tech CEO has been called on by Congress to provide a closed-door briefing on his interactions with Alice Huang. As the artificial intelligence industry surge has spurred Nvidia’s stock prices to new heights, Huang has appeared at US President Donald Trump’s side at White House events, as recently as last month when he accepted a National Medal of Science from the Republican leader.
Huang was among the world’s most influential tech leaders — including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — who vowed to self-regulate AI against possible threats, as Trump rejected calls for government oversight and dismissed warnings that the technology could wipe out humanity. Nvidia shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against Huang and the AI chip maker for failing to disclose information about the relationship to investors.
Founded in 1993, Nvidia designs advanced components originally created to handle 3D visuals in video games, called Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Nvidia’s processors are mostly made by Taiwanese company TSMC, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of chips. Nvidia is scheduled to release its quarterly results on November 17.
© 2024 AFP
