Jensen Huang, the founder and only CEO Nvidia has ever had, resigned effective immediately on Thursday, the company said, days after reports surfaced that he was under investigation over a relationship with a Chinese Nvidia executive whom authorities suspect was recruited to spy for Beijing. The resignation was confirmed in a company announcement naming chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while she keeps her CFO title, and board member Harvey Jones — who has served on Nvidia's board since 1993 — as the company's first-ever independent board chair.

Nvidia's statement gave no reason for Huang's exit. But the departure follows days of mounting pressure after reports that the board was weighing his future over a romantic relationship with an executive who reported to him. The New York Times reported she was allegedly recruited by China's Ministry of State Security to glean information about Nvidia's prized AI chip technology; other outlets have reported additional affairs separately. No findings of national-security wrongdoing have been formally announced, and Nvidia has not detailed what, if anything, its own internal review concluded.

A sudden end to a defining tenure

Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and built it from a graphics-card maker into the linchpin of the global artificial-intelligence boom, briefly the most valuable company on Earth. His exit rattled markets: Nvidia shares plunged more than 11% following the announcement, dragging down other chipmakers and AI-adjacent stocks across Wall Street. In a statement, Jones praised Kress for having "helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth" with a "deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position," while Kress said she was committed to building on the foundation Huang laid. The board said it expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption while it searches for a permanent chief executive, considering both internal and external candidates.

THE BOARD SAYS IT EXPECTS NO DISRUPTION TO NVIDIA'S PRODUCT ROADMAP OR CUSTOMER COMMITMENTS

Reaction in Washington was swift and chaotic. President Trump posted that Apple CEO Tim Cook should take over at Nvidia, while Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk said it would be an "honor" to hire Huang. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast said Huang has indicated he is willing to testify before Congress as soon as next week, as lawmakers weigh whether the episode exposes gaps in how sensitive chip technology is safeguarded from foreign intelligence services.

Nvidia is scheduled to report third-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings on Nov. 17, which will be the company's first results call without Huang at the podium in its history as a public company. Analysts said the timeline leaves Kress little room to settle in before facing investors directly about both the leadership transition and the underlying AI-spending outlook that has driven Nvidia's valuation.