Nvidia scandal: What’s next for the US tech company?

Résumé détaillé

What happens next at one of the world's most valuable companies will have repercussions far beyond Silicon Valley.

The departure of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the 63-year-old cofounder and face of the chipmaking company which has become the backbone of the modern AI industry, has shaken the US’s Silicon Valley.

Nvidia, valued at nearly $4 trillion, is a critical pillar of the US economy where AI and tech companies make up some 40 percent of stock market valuations. The furore over Huang’s extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy, has wiped hundreds of billions of dollars from the company’s market value, dragging down the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

While CFO Colette Kress has temporarily stepped into the top job at Nvidia, the search for cofounder Huang’s successor continues.

What happens next at one of the world’s most valuable companies will have repercussions far beyond Silicon Valley. So, what’s next for Nvidia?

On October 29, The New York Times reported that US intelligence agencies suspected a Chinese businesswoman and executive associated with Singapore-based AI infrastructure company Megaspeed International, Alice Huang, had been tapped by China’s Ministry of State Security to gather information from Nvidia’s Huang.

The newspaper reported that the two were involved in an intimate relationship, later confirmed by the cofounder of the company in an internal memo. Nvidia’s board launched an independent investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.

“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry,” Huang wrote in an internal memo to Nvidia staff.

The business links go beyond just the affair, however, fuelling further concerns. Megaspeed purchased more than $4.8bn of Nvidia chips over roughly two years. Separately, The Information reported that Alice Huang facilitated at least $7.5bn in Nvidia chip shipments to Chinese firms, raising even more questions about skirting US export controls.

Then, on Wednesday, the NYT reported a second alleged affair between…

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