Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Steps Down

Nvidia named Colette Kress as interim chief executive officer on Friday. Kress currently serves as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. She will lead the firm while the board searches for a permanent replacement for Jensen Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993.

The resignation follows a rapid escalation of events in November. On Nov. 8, Huang sent a memo to colleagues admitting he was unfaithful to his wife. He stated that he takes full responsibility for the hurt he caused and accepted the resulting criticism. The board simultaneously announced an independent investigation into allegations that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.

The board stated it had no reason to believe national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised. However, the inquiry will examine all available information regarding the allegations. The company confirmed that Kress would oversee operations during the transition.

Public scrutiny intensified in late October when major media outlets reported on Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at Singaporean tech firm Megaspeed. The New York Times reported the two had a close relationship. The Wall Street Journal added that intelligence officials in the U.S., Singapore, and Taiwan believed Alice Huang might be a Chinese spy. The couple was first photographed together at Computex Taipei in June 2024.

President Donald Trump had been briefed on the matter twice in the past year. The first briefing occurred in the fall of 2025. The second took place on May 12, 2026, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared intelligence on Air Force One. Trump told reporters on Nov. 9 that Huang called him and said he had absolutely no idea the person in question was a spy.

Huang had become a close ally to the president and an adviser on artificial intelligence. He visited the White House more than half a dozen times between January 2025 and October 2026. He joined Trump on state visits to China and Great Britain this year. On Oct. 8, Trump honored Huang with a National Medal for Science and Technology and Innovation at a summit in Washington, D.C.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is preparing to subpoena Huang if he does not respond to requests for a closed-door briefing. Rep. Brian Mast, the committee’s Republican chair, made this known on Nov. 10. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called the spy claims groundless and pure slander on Nov. 9.