Nvidia co-founder and chief executive Jensen Huang resigned on Nov. 12 after admitting an extramarital affair, South China Morning Post reported in a recording published Nov. 13.
The departure ended Huang’s leadership of the company he helped establish in 1993. Nvidia named Colette Kress interim chief executive while she continues as executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Huang helped turn a maker of computer graphics cards into a supplier of chips used to develop artificial intelligence. His departure followed scrutiny of an alleged relationship with Alice Huang and questions about whether company information had reached China.
The US Commerce Department began investigating Singapore-based AI computing company Mega Speed International in 2024 over suspected shipments of advanced Nvidia chips to China that violated US export controls.
Alice Huang served as Mega Speed’s managing director from March to November 2023. She and Jensen Huang, who are unrelated, were photographed together at an industry event in Taipei in June 2024.
They appeared together again in Taipei in May 2025. Footage showed Alice Huang kissing him on the cheek at a private dinner and later leaving with him. When they first met is unclear.
US intelligence agencies had concluded that Alice Huang had been recruited as a Chinese intelligence asset, the New York Times reported on Oct. 29. US officials suspected she had passed information to Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported the following day.
The US attorney general subsequently said the Justice Department had reached no conclusions about her. China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegation. Those positions left the intelligence claims unresolved.
Huang acknowledged an extramarital affair in a company memo on Nov. 8. He did not identify the other person. Investigations followed in Washington and at Nvidia, while US politicians questioned whether the alleged relationship created national security risks.
Nvidia said it had “no reason to believe” that company secrets or US national security had been compromised. That response did not establish whom Huang’s admission concerned or resolve the allegations about Alice Huang.
Reports of affairs with two other women and plans by Nvidia’s board to remove Huang preceded the resignation announcement. The board thanked him for his “profound and immeasurable contributions” to the company and the industry.
The board must now appoint a permanent successor. Congress has summoned Huang over national security concerns surrounding his alleged relationship with Alice Huang. No date for an appearance or timetable for choosing a permanent chief executive was given.
