Jensen Huang Is Out. Will Nvidia’s Rivals Cash In?

Nvidia cofounder Jensen Huang has officially resigned as CEO, ending a three-decade run in which he built the company into the engine of the AI boom. The resignation, announced in a special episode of WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast, follows his admission of an affair with an alleged Chinese intelligence asset who had been selling a significant volume of chips, plus a report of at least one more alleged affair, this one with a person who reported directly to him at Nvidia.

The hosts described a board that had long deferred to its celebrity CEO but found the situation untenable once the second allegation surfaced. Nvidia's rules explicitly prohibit relationships with direct reports, which Zoë Schiffer argued gave the board a concrete basis to act even if the more explosive China-related scandal alone might have been weathered. With no current reporting of additional affairs, the concern among the panel was prospective: if two have emerged, more could follow, and the company needed to stop the bleeding.

Neither the board nor Huang wanted this outcome, Schiffer said, but their backs were against the wall. The company already faces months of fallout, including Huang appearing before the Senate to answer questions about his advocacy for China and the destinations of Nvidia's chips. Layering a second, policy-violating relationship on top of that made the position impossible to defend.

CFO Colette Kress steps in as interim CEO. She joined Nvidia in 2013, meaning she worked closely with Huang well before the company became the darling of the AI world, back when it was primarily a maker of graphics processors for gaming laptops. Her prior stops include Cisco and Microsoft. Brian Barrett characterized her as a classic CFO rather than an obvious long-term visionary, but noted she knows Nvidia inside and out and offers exactly what the moment calls for: stability, institutional knowledge, and no new drama.

What remains open is how long 'interim' lasts and whether Nvidia's rivals can convert the disruption into commercial ground. The episode frames this moment as a potential golden opportunity for competitors, while the company simultaneously manages a leadership transition, a Senate inquiry, and continuing scrutiny over where its chips are going. Whether Kress consolidates into a permanent appointment or becomes a caretaker pending a broader search is the central question to watch, alongside any signal that customers or partners are reassessing commitments during the uncertainty.

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