Jensen Huang stepped down as Nvidia CEO on Thursday after revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy, plunged the chipmaker into crisis and sent shockwaves across ‌an AI industry he helped bankroll.

Mr Huang, Nvidia’s fourth-largest shareholder with a 3.61 per cent stake, will also leave the board.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Colette Kress will take over as interim CEO as Nvidia looks for a permanent successor, considering both internal and external candidates, the company said on Thursday.

Ms Kress and longtime Nvidia engineer Ian Buck, company veterans known for their relations with Wall Street and technology chops respectively, had emerged as the leading internal candidates among investors and analysts even before Mr Huang’s departure.

Mr Huang’s exit caps a tumultuous week for Nvidia, one of the major engines behind the AI boom.

It could also have far-reaching consequences for US chip export policy and the broader AI ecosystem, given the ex-CEO’s push to preserve access to the Chinese market as well as his close ties with US President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers from both parties have called for tougher restrictions on China’s access to advanced AI chips in the wake of the scandal.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday said that there was agrowing consensus on limiting chip exports.

Mr Huang’s departure threatens to disrupt an AI ecosystem that he helped shape by pouring Nvidia’s swelling cash pile back into cloud providers, suppliers and labs.

The surge in AI computing demand drove a seven-fold increase in Nvidia’s shares through early October, pushing its market value at one point to nearly $6 trillion.

The scandal preceding Mr Huang’s departure unfolded over more than a year, beginning with The New York Times’ October 2025 report linking him to Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based ⁠Megaspeed, an Nvidia cloud partner with priority access to its chips.

Mr Huang also had an intimate relationship with a second Nvidia employee, according to two people familiar with the matter.