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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday after his extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy raised national security concerns.
The company named Colette Kress as interim CEO. She is the current executive vice-president and chief financial officer.
Huang faced growing calls to resign after revelations that he was having an affair with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive suspected of being a Chinese government agent.
Late Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Huang had another extramarital affair with an Nvidia employee who reports to him.
The board of directors said on Thursday that it also named the company’s first-ever chairman, Harvey C. Jones, an entrepreneur and investor.
Shares of Nvidia, one of the largest companies in the world, were down about eight per cent at the start of the trading day on Thursday.
In its first statement since the scandal broke, Singapore-headquartered Megaspeed International said on Thursday that it takes its obligation to comply with U.S. export control laws “extremely seriously.”
“Megaspeed is committed to working constructively and transparently with the U.S. government,” said the statement signed by its chairman and CEO, Tan Yong Pong, who also goes by James Tan.
Nvidia has said it had “no reason to believe” that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information.
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Details about Huang’s affair with the alleged Chinese spy are unclear. The New York Times reported that the woman was Alice Huang, who also goes by the name Huang Le, and was a top executive at Megaspeed. The company prominently touts a partnership with Nvidia on its website. The two are not related.
Last month, the Times reported that U.S. intelligence agencies discovered Nvidia’s Huang had developed a close relationship with Alice Huang — and determined she was feeding information directly to Beijing.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the FBI was investigating.
Megaspeed faced claims last year that it was illicitly shipping advanced Nvidia computer chips into China, but in December said there was “no evidence” of such exports. Singapore has also said it is investigating such allegations.
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U.S. tech giant Nvidia’s shares tumbled after CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an affair with a woman accused of spying for Beijing. Andrew Chang breaks down what we know so far and what the scandal means for the world’s most valuable AI chipmaker.
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China has denied that it engaged in an attempt to ensnare Huang. Nvidia has become a leader in making chips that power AI and Huang has lobbied Washington to loosen limits on sales of Nvidia chips to China.
In January, he won Trump’s approval for selling its H200 chips to China.
Megaspeed said Thursday it has co-operated with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which handles enforcement of national security restrictions on exports of technology, and was ready to “co-operate fully with any other relevant U.S. government authority.”
It said it has hired a U.S. law firm to handle a “comprehensive census” of its computer chips and to verify its export controls.
“Megaspeed welcomes appropriate government scrutiny and is committed to demonstrating through concrete actions that it operates responsibly, transparently and in accordance with applicable U.S. laws,” it said.
Apart from questions over national security, Megaspeed’s finances have also drawn attention. Its total assets soared roughly 90-fold from late 2023 to 2024, to almost $3 billion US, according to Singapore corporate records.
Revenue surged to more than $294 million US in 2024 from none in 2023.