Nvidia co-founder and Chief Executive Jensen Huang resigned from the world's preeminent artificial intelligence chipmaker on Thursday, ending a 33-year tenure following disclosures of extramarital relationships that triggered an active counterintelligence review.
Huang stepped down immediately. The Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor giant appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress—who has managed Nvidia’s finances and served as executive vice president since 2013—as interim chief executive. The board of directors also appointed venture investor Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever independent chairman, moving swiftly to stabilize leadership amid a leadership vacuum at the apex of the global technology sector.
Nvidia confirmed it has opened a search for a permanent chief executive, evaluating both internal and external contenders. Huang founded the company in 1993 alongside Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, transforming a PC graphics card startup into the central compute engine of modern computing. Now, that legacy faces unprecedented turbulence.
Huang’s departure followed U.S. counterintelligence assessments examining his personal relationship with a former executive of Singapore-based Megaspeed International, identified as Alice Huang, who also uses the name Huang Le. Counterintelligence investigators determined she was funnelling proprietary semiconductor and corporate intelligence directly to Beijing, a charge the Chinese government has denied. The two share no familial relation.
Pressure mounted inside the boardroom over the weekend after Huang sent an apology to staff.
"My actions hurt her and our children," Huang wrote in a Sunday email to employees, acknowledging he was "unfaithful to my wife" and conceding that colleagues "deserve better" from executive leadership.
Yet personal contrition failed to quell regulatory alarm. Scrutiny deepened sharply late Wednesday following revelations that Huang engaged in a separate undisclosed relationship with a subordinate Nvidia executive who reported directly to him, breaching standard corporate governance protocols.
President Donald Trump confirmed the Federal Bureau of Investigation is actively reviewing Huang's relationship with Alice Huang. Trump had received intelligence briefings regarding the matter before the details became public. When pressed on the timeline of federal intervention, Trump defended Huang’s character, calling the ousted chief an "honorable guy." On Capitol Hill, lawmakers from both parties have mobilized to demand formal hearings on supply chain exposure and semiconductor security.
| Governance & Executive Transition Parameter | Official Corporate Status |
|---|---|
| Ousted Executive | Jensen Huang (Co-Founder & CEO since 1993) |
| Interim Chief Executive | Colette Kress (CFO & Executive VP since 2013) |
| Board Leadership | Harvey C. Jones appointed first-ever Chairman |
| Successor Search Scope | Internal and external candidates under active review |
| Active Federal Inquiry | FBI counterintelligence review into foreign intelligence contacts |
Nvidia maintained its internal inquiry found "no reason to believe" proprietary hardware designs or sensitive national security secrets were compromised. The internal review continues to examine company operational data.
Focus has intensified on Nvidia’s commercial relationship with Megaspeed International, which prominently highlights its hardware partnership with Nvidia. The Singaporean distributor faced regulatory accusations last year over the diversion of advanced Nvidia graphic processing units into mainland China. In December, Megaspeed claimed there was "no evidence" of illicit exports, reiterating on Thursday that it adheres strictly to United States export control regulations.
Beijing's persistent push to secure advanced compute infrastructure has placed Western chip foundries squarely in the crosshairs of geopolitical intelligence operations.
Kress moved quickly to steady enterprise partners and institutional shareholders following her interim appointment.
Nvidia's strength has always come from its people, and I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.
Colette Kress, Interim CEO, Nvidia
Before arriving at Nvidia 13 years ago, Kress directed financial strategy at Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments. The board's special committee is scheduled to present its initial slate of permanent chief executive candidates before the next quarterly shareholder assembly, while federal intelligence briefings on semiconductor supply security continue behind closed doors in Washington.