Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns Amid Chinese Spy Scandal – Interim Chief Named

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A sudden exit at the top of the AI industry

Nvidia announced on Thursday that Huang has resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately. According to the company's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the board accepted the resignation on November 11.

Neither the filing nor the press release gives a reason. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who has held that post since 2013, will serve as interim CEO and stay on as CFO. Before Nvidia, she spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft.

Board chair Harvey Jones said the board has full confidence in Kress and expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption.

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How the scandal unfolded

The crisis broke within a single week. On Friday, November 6, the Financial Times reported that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed. The Singapore-based company is a customer of Nvidia. According to the New York Times and the Financial Times, U.S. intelligence officials believe she was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security.

Beijing rejects the claim. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called the spy allegation unsubstantiated.

Huang admitted the affair in a memo to staff on Sunday and apologized. Nvidia's board then opened an independent investigation, overseen by independent directors and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Directors said no compromise of company secrets or national security information had been established so far.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said the FBI was looking into the matter. Nvidia's stock closed more than 4% lower that day.

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A second report sealed his fate

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Huang also had a romantic relationship with a senior Nvidia executive. Shortly before, the Wall Street Journal had reported that the board was preparing to push him out. Nvidia shares fell more than 9% in after-hours trading, CNBC reported. Huang resigned the next morning.

One market news site reported a drop of more than 13% shortly after the opening bell on Thursday. Figures varied during the day.

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Why Washington is paying attention

The case matters beyond personal conduct. Huang has long argued that the United States should keep selling AI chips to China and has publicly called export controls a failure. Earlier reporting indicated that U.S. officials are examining whether Megaspeed helped Chinese companies get around American chip restrictions.

According to TechCrunch, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly warned officials close to Trump about the relationship earlier this year. Critics now ask whether a foreign intelligence service could have gained insight into U.S. export-control debates through such a contact. That question has not been answered, and no evidence of stolen technology has been presented.

The House Select Committee on China has asked Huang for a closed-door briefing on Nvidia's security protocols, tentatively set for November 18.

Chinese state intelligence has a long record of targeting Western technology companies. This case again shows how closely business decisions and national security are linked in the AI sector.

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What happens next

Nvidia reports quarterly earnings on November 17, just days after the shake-up. Analyst Dan Ives told CNBC that Kress can "steady the ship" but that the interim role will likely last about a year, and that the company will probably need an outsider for the long term. The Financial Times named internal candidates such as Ian Buck, who leads Nvidia's data center business, and Arm CEO Rene Haas, a former Nvidia executive.

Huang held a stake of roughly 3.6% in Nvidia. Unlike some other tech giants, the company has no special share class that gives its founder majority voting control.

Investors are watching three questions: how stable the leadership will be, what the ongoing investigation finds, and whether Washington tightens its oversight of chip sales to China.

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Sources

1. Decrypt – "Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO, With CFO Colette Kress Named Interim Chief": https://decrypt.co/383134/jensen-huang-resigns-as-nvidia-ceo-with-cfo-colette-kress-named-interim-chief
2. NVIDIA Corp., Form 8-K (SEC), "NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition": https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001045810/000104581026000082/nvidiaannouncesceotransiti.htm
3. CNBC – "Nvidia live updates: CEO Jensen Huang resigns, Colette Kress named interim chief": https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/12/nvidia-jensen-huang-ceo-live-updates.html
4. CNBC – "Nvidia board meeting to decide CEO Jensen Huang's fate stretches into evening": https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/11/nvidia-jensen-huang-affair-employee.html
5. NBC News – "Nvidia opens investigation after CEO Jensen Huang's affair with alleged Chinese spy": https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-investigation-rcna608148
6. TechCrunch – "Jensen Huang's affair with alleged Chinese spy puts Nvidia's China ambitions under scrutiny": https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/09/jensen-huangs-affair-with-alleged-chinese-spy-puts-nvidias-china-ambitions-under-scrutiny/
7. CNN – "Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits affair as company launches investigation": https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/08/business/nvidia-investigation-ceo-jensen-huang
8. The Express Tribune (Reuters report) – "Trump says FBI probing Nvidia CEO Huang": https://tribune.com.pk/story/2639573/trump-says-fbi-probing-nvidia-ceo-huang-as-china-controversy-deepens
9. AIStockWire – "Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO, Kress named interim": https://aistockwire.com/blog/nvidia-nvda-jensen-huang-resigns-colette-kress-interim-ceo

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