According to the report, after leading Nvidia for 33 years, Huang admitted to having a relationship with a woman whom U.S. security agencies suspect of passing information to Chinese intelligence. After another relationship with a senior company official came to light, Nvidia’s board was forced to approve his resignation, and Colette Kress, the company’s chief financial officer, was appointed on an interim basis to replace him.
The case comes as U.S. intelligence and judicial agencies intensify scrutiny of a number of executives and founders of major technology and semiconductor companies—particularly officials whose spouses or families hold Chinese citizenship or have strong family ties to Beijing. Washington is currently examining these companies through a highly sensitive security lens, amid fears that commercial secrets and strategic technologies related to artificial intelligence could be infiltrated and transferred to Chinese authorities.
On the other hand, the newspaper reported that in recent months Huang had been engaged in a serious dispute with Colette Kress over Nvidia’s capital spending to guarantee and support data-center and cloud-company projects. He had warned that these major financial agreements and commitments threatened the company’s survival.
