Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is stepping down, the chipmaker said on Thursday, ending the tenure of the executive who built the company into one of the most valuable businesses in the AI sector. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim chief executive while the company looks for a permanent successor. Huang, who co-founded Nvidia, will also leave its board. Shares fell more than 10% in premarket trading and weighed on the wider market.
Leadership change and what it means for the company
Nvidia also named Harvey Jones, a former Synopsys CEO and board member, as its first-ever board chairman. Huang holds a stake of about 3.61%, making him the company's fourth-largest investor. The company is valued at about $4 trillion, and its chips are central to AI work, so the leadership change has raised questions about the company's direction.
Huang had helped build an AI ecosystem by putting Nvidia's growing cash reserves into cloud providers, chip suppliers and leading AI research labs. Investor confidence in AI stocks was already uneven, as cash-rich technology firms have taken on more spending and debt. The departure could also affect US chip export policy, because Huang had pushed to keep access to the Chinese market and had close ties with US President Donald Trump.
Allegations, probe and reactions
Pressure on Huang grew in recent days after reports said the 63-year-old had a relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based cloud company Megaspeed. Reports say US authorities have concluded she was a Chinese intelligence asset, and Beijing has denied that she is a spy. The two are not related, though they have been photographed together in Taiwan, Singapore and California. Megaspeed, an official Nvidia cloud partner with priority access to its chips, has itself been investigated over suspicions that it helped China obtain advanced AI chips restricted under US export controls, according to media reports.
Trump said on Sunday that Huang had “done an amazing job for our country” and that the Nvidia chief had told him he had no idea the Chinese woman was a spy. These personal allegations have been reported but have not been established by any official finding in the public material. Nvidia's board had earlier launched a probe, led by independent directors with outside legal counsel, into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. It expressed confidence in him at that time.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Earlier this month: Nvidia's board launched a probe led by independent directors into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation, and it expressed confidence in him.
- Sunday: Trump said Huang had “done an amazing job for our country” and said Huang had told him he did not know the Chinese woman was a spy.
- Wednesday: A person familiar with the matter said the board met to consider Huang's ouster, and reports said he had also had an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, who reported to him.
- Thursday: Nvidia said Huang was stepping down, named Colette Kress interim CEO and Harvey Jones board chairman, and its shares fell more than 10% in premarket trading.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Nvidia ke CEO Jensen Huang ne ohda chhorne ka elaan kiya hai, aur company ne Colette Kress ko kaam chalau CEO bana diya hai jabke naya CEO talash kiya ja raha hai. Huang company ke board se bhi alag ho rahe hain, aur un par zaati mamlaat ki khabron ke baad dabao tha. Nvidia ke shares premarket mein 10 feesad se zyada gir gaye, aur AI aur chip export policy par asar ho sakta hai. Aam Pakistani ke liye fori tor par qeemat ya bill mein tabdeeli ka zikr nahi hai.
