Jensen Huang's exit leaves Nvidia under an interim CEO as the board weighs internal and external successors

What happened

Jensen Huang, who cofounded Nvidia and led it as chief executive, has resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately, according to a board statement reported by WIRED. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO. The board said it "will consider internal and external candidates" for a permanent replacement, WIRED reported.

The Verge reported that the resignation came at the end of a board meeting Wednesday night. That was the same day The New York Times reported evidence of a second relationship. Our earlier coverage of the board's reported deliberations and the spy allegations behind the resignation has more background.

How the board reached its decision

Spy allegations and an acknowledged affair

On November 6, The New York Times and Financial Times reported that Alice Huang was a spy for China's Ministry of State Security. Those reports said she had been recruited to collect information on the Nvidia chief, according to WIRED. She previously held a senior position at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based AI company, and has no known relation to Jensen Huang. The Chinese government has rejected all claims that she was a spy, WIRED noted.

WIRED reported that US intelligence officials reportedly briefed President Donald Trump on the relationship last year, but he did not act on it. Huang sent a companywide email on Sunday acknowledging the affair and apologizing to his family and employees. He also pledged to cooperate with the internal investigation, which the board announced on November 8.

A second reported relationship

On November 11, The New York Times reported that Huang also allegedly had a relationship with an Nvidia executive who reported directly to him. The Verge described that report. It said a bystander recorded the two being "affectionate" at the hotel hosting Nvidia's GTC developer conference in May. According to the report, Huang's security workers then approached the bystander and asked them to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

What weighed most, according to WIRED

A source familiar with the matter told WIRED what likely weighed most in the board's decision. In that account, the relationship with a subordinate and Huang's business dealings with Megaspeed played a bigger role than the espionage allegations. WIRED also reported that Huang began working last year with a crisis public relations firm. Starting in October 2025, that firm was looped in on all press inquiries about him.

The export control backdrop

In October 2025, The New York Times reported that the US Commerce Department was investigating Megaspeed, according to WIRED. Investigators were looking at whether the company was helping Chinese companies get around American export controls through a large web of subsidiaries. The inquiry was reportedly halted and transferred to the Justice Department after Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter asked about it.

Huang has been a vocal critic of those export controls, WIRED reported. He has argued that they needlessly limit the market for American chips and push China to build competitive chips of its own. The Verge described Nvidia as a key part of the Trump administration's AI push. It also called the company a central figure in negotiations over potential Chinese access to advanced AI hardware.

The company Huang leaves behind

From gaming graphics to AI

Huang cofounded Nvidia in 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, according to WIRED. For decades the company was known mainly for chips that rendered high-quality graphics in video games. In 2012, the AlexNet neural network won a high-profile computer vision prize, and Nvidia then shifted toward chips for artificial intelligence. Huang has repeatedly described AlexNet's arrival as a "Big Bang" type of event for computing.

Market position

In the summer of 2025, Nvidia became the first company in history to cross $4 trillion in value. As of September 2026, it controlled about 90 percent of the GPU market, WIRED reported. According to The Verge, Nvidia has used its market value to finance other AI companies. Those include so-called neoclouds such as Coreweave, which have been among its biggest customers.

WIRED credited much of the company's rise to its chips and its CUDA software, and also to Huang's leadership style. For more coverage of the industry, see our AI and tech section.

What to watch next

• The board's search for a permanent CEO, which it said will consider internal and external candidates.
• Colette Kress's tenure as interim CEO while that search is under way.
• The Justice Department's handling of the Megaspeed export control inquiry, which The New York Times reported was moved there from the Commerce Department.
• Nvidia's role in negotiations over potential Chinese access to advanced AI hardware, as described by The Verge.