Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO after reported affair with suspected Chinese spy raises national security concerns

What happened

Jensen Huang resigned as CEO of Nvidia effective immediately on Thursday, the company's board of directors announced, according to CBS News. Chief financial officer Colette Kress was named interim CEO and will keep her CFO role. The Associated Press, in a report published by PBS NewsHour, said the board also named its first-ever chairman, entrepreneur and venture investor Harvey C. Jones.

The move followed days of reporting about Huang's personal relationships and whether they put U.S. national security at risk. CBS News reported that the board had been preparing to oust him, plans first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Earlier coverage of the board weighing Huang's future set the stage for Thursday's announcement.

How the scandal unfolded

Reports of a relationship with a suspected agent

NPR said the New York Times reported in late October that Huang had a close relationship with a woman at a Singapore-based company buying Nvidia chips, and that U.S. intelligence officials believed she had been recruited by the Chinese government. According to the Times, as cited by AP, she was a top executive at Megaspeed International. NPR and AP said they could not independently confirm those reports.

AP reported that President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the FBI was investigating. NPR reported that in a Sunday email to staff, Huang admitted to cheating on his wife and said he would cooperate with the company's investigation.

Reports involving Nvidia employees

On Wednesday, the Times reported that Huang also had an affair with an Nvidia executive who reported to him. CBS News said the Times reported five employees came forward with that allegation, and that CBS had not verified a related report about a video. After the resignation, Reuters reported Huang had an intimate relationship with a second employee, according to CBS News.

Responses from China, Megaspeed and Nvidia

China's foreign ministry has called the spying allegations baseless and part of a smear campaign, NPR reported. In its first statement since the scandal broke, Megaspeed said it takes its duty to follow U.S. export control laws "extremely seriously" and has hired a U.S. law firm to review its chips, according to AP. Nvidia has said it had "no reason to believe" national security or company secrets were compromised.

Why export controls are at the center

Nvidia designs the semiconductors behind many leading AI firms, which makes its technology highly sensitive and subject to limits on sales to China, CBS News reported. According to U.S. investigators cited by CBS, the former Megaspeed executive gained access to 240,000 chips banned from export to China. Megaspeed is under investigation in the U.S. and Singapore over alleged smuggling, though it said in December there was "no evidence" of such exports, AP reported.

CBS News noted that Trump had granted Nvidia the right to sell H200 chips to approved customers in China, with the U.S. government getting a 25% cut. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a statement that Huang, Nvidia executives and the board "still owe Congress answers about the company's compliance with U.S. export controls." More coverage of the industry is in our AI and tech section.

Market reaction and leadership search

AP reported Nvidia shares plunged 10% in premarket trading Thursday. CBS News said the stock closed down 4.3% at $166.19, and that the turmoil potentially erased almost $500 billion in value. NPR reported the company is valued at more than $4 trillion.

Kress has been CFO since joining Nvidia in 2013, CBS News reported. The board said it will search for a permanent CEO and consider internal and external candidates. Trump posted on Truth Social that there was "only one man" who could replace Huang: former Apple CEO Tim Cook.

What to watch next

• Nvidia still plans to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, according to NPR.
• The board's search for a permanent CEO, which will consider internal and external candidates.
• The FBI investigation announced by Trump, and U.S. and Singapore investigations of Megaspeed over alleged chip smuggling.
• Congressional Democrats seeking answers; NPR reported the matter will likely be investigated when Democrats take control of Congress in January.