Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO of Nvidia following revelations of two alleged extramarital relationships, one with a woman suspected of being an asset for China’s Ministry of State Security.
The reaction inside Silicon Valley was muted. Even within Nvidia, where loyalty is reportedly near absolute, many staff members were initially surprised by the departure. Two current employees and three former workers spoke anonymously to protect their standing at the firm. They said rank-and-file staff continued business as usual after the first story broke. Workers trusted the board to handle the investigation, yet few expected Huang to step down.
Nvidia employs roughly 60,000 people. Turnover rates are among the lowest in the technology sector. Employees describe the culture as having “green in your blood” or being “green-pilled,” referencing the company’s signature colour. Huang founded the business 33 years ago and remained through difficult periods. Staff noted he kept layoffs rare and administrative burdens low. One worker described the shift from his previous status as moving from a superhero cape to forgetting pants, leaving everyone unsure how to process the change. A former employee argued that affairs alone did not justify his exit and suggested darker motives were involved.
Industry peers echoed this sentiment after Huang’s removal. Venture capitalist Antonio Gracias posted on X that a single mistake should not erase a lifetime of leadership and contribution to the company. Earlier reports from The New York Times detailed an affair with a vice president, while Reuters confirmed a second intimate relationship with an employee. Before these stories became public, several executives told WIRED that Huang was irreplaceable. They noted his biggest error was admitting the affair to the entire workforce in writing.
That view persisted for a few hours. After Huang resigned, shortly before the Reuters report, venture capitalist Sarah Guo wrote on X that a founder who spent 30 years building such a unique company capably deserves the presumption that he should keep leading it.
Formal accusations from authorities or the Nvidia board regarding the interactions with the businesswoman, Alice Huang, have not yet been made. China has denied she is a spy. President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that the FBI is looking into the matter. The board said it does not believe Huang compromised any secrets, but it has hired law firm Wachtell Lipton to investigate.
Rumours about the relationship with Alice Huang circulated in some corners of the company beforehand. One unnamed venture capitalist recalled a recent dinner where an Nvidia executive mentioned whispers about Huang’s romantic involvement with a young Asian woman. That same investor had estimated on Monday there was less than a 10 percent chance Huang would lose his job at the top of the world’s most valuable company. They said the public anger would last three months before people forgot the event.
Huang’s resignation left them in shock.
The main anxiety in Silicon Valley remains the possibility that instability at Nvidia could burst an AI bubble. Analysts are not convinced this will happen. The chief executive of an AI company, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect business relationships, said Nvidia’s recent funding of startups and acquisitions, such as model-hosting provider Hugging Face, have propped up the demand for chips. A new professional CEO would not continue that work. The entrepreneur said this increases systemic risk for the AI trade and the AI bubble substantially.
Nvidia shares have sunk to their lowest point in more than a year amid the bubble talk and Huang rumours. The company reports its latest quarterly earnings next week.
Inside Nvidia, meetings and projects are pressing ahead with what remains of Huang’s vision.
What it means
For people making things with AI tools, the immediate workflow, API access, and customer data handling remain unchanged. The resignation concerns internal governance and leadership rather than product policy or privacy. The market reaction suggests volatility for the stock, but the infrastructure supporting current AI applications continues to operate under the existing technical direction.
