Nvidia co-founder and chief executive Jensen Huang has resigned from the artificial intelligence (AI) technology giant following revelations about two alleged extramarital affairs, one of which reportedly involved a woman accused of spying for China.
The company confirmed Huang's departure on Thursday, November 12, bringing an end to his 33-year tenure at the helm of the global technology company he co-founded.
Nvidia's chief financial officer, Colette Kress, has been appointed interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent successor.
Huang, 63, has also stepped down from his position on the company's board of directors. Nvidia did not provide a specific reason for his resignation.
The announcement comes amid growing controversy surrounding reports of Huang's personal relationships, which have raised questions about corporate governance and potential national security concerns.
The scandal has also affected investor confidence, with Nvidia shares falling sharply following news of his departure.
The company's board previously announced an investigation into reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation, while expressing confidence in his leadership.
The controversy began after reports emerged that Huang had an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, a senior executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed. The two are not related.
US intelligence reportedly circulated a memo alleging that Alice Huang was an asset of China's Ministry of State Security. Beijing has rejected the spying allegations.
The situation escalated further after The New York Times reported that Huang had allegedly been involved in a second extramarital relationship with Nvidia vice-president of healthcare Kimberly Powell, 48.
The newspaper cited video evidence showing the pair being affectionate at a hotel in San Jose, California.
Nvidia's code of conduct requires employees to avoid conflicts of interest, including those arising from personal relationships.
The controversy has also prompted Nvidia shareholders to file a class-action lawsuit against Huang and the company, alleging that information about the reported relationships was not disclosed to investors.
Meanwhile, Nvidia's board has appointed Harvey Jones, a former chief executive of chip design software company Synopsys, as its first-ever board chair.
Jones expressed confidence in Kress and the company's leadership team, saying he expected operations, customer commitments and product development plans to continue without interruption.
Kress said she was committed to building on the foundation established by Huang over the past 33 years.
She joined Nvidia in 2013 after spending nearly 25 years in finance positions at companies including Cisco and Microsoft.
Founded in 1993, Nvidia designs graphics processing units (GPUs), which were initially developed to power 3D graphics in video games but have since become essential components of artificial intelligence systems.
Most of the company's processors are manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker.
Despite the leadership shake-up, Nvidia confirmed that it would release its quarterly financial results as scheduled on November 17.