The decision came days after Nvidia launched an internal investigation into reports first published by the New York Times. According to those reports, which NPR has not independently confirmed, Huang had an affair with a client at a Singapore-based company that purchases Nvidia chips. U.S. intelligence officials concluded the woman had been recruited by Chinese intelligence to spy on Huang and potentially influence U.S. policy. In an email to staff on Sunday, Huang admitted to cheating on his wife and said he would cooperate with the investigation.

The scandal deepened on Wednesday when the Times reported a second affair, this one with an Nvidia executive who reported directly to Huang. The company's share price dropped sharply following that disclosure. Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.

Huang's departure marks a stunning fall for one of the most influential business leaders in the United States. Nvidia dominates the market for the graphics processing units that power artificial intelligence, and Huang had cultivated a close relationship with President Trump on AI policy. Trump even called Huang's phone in September while Huang was onstage at a conference.

The controversy snowballed over roughly two weeks. In late October, the Times reported that Huang had a close relationship with a Chinese woman at a Singapore-based company buying Nvidia chips, and that U.S. intelligence officials believed she had been recruited by the Chinese government to spy on him. A series of subsequent reports detailed the romantic nature of the relationship, indicated that senior Trump administration officials had known about the allegations for some time, and revealed the second affair.

China's foreign ministry has dismissed the spying allegations as baseless and part of a smear campaign against China.

Huang's relationship with the alleged agent and what the Trump administration knew about it are likely to be the subject of a congressional investigation when Democrats take control in January. "We should all be extremely concerned about this, and the fact that the White House knew about this for weeks, maybe months now, is very disturbing as well," said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in an interview with NPR.

The board said it will conduct a full search for a new CEO, considering both internal and external candidates. "There's no obvious replacement," said Stephen Witt, author of a book about Nvidia called The Thinking Machine. "It's not even clear Nvidia can be the same kind of company without Jensen. I have a hard time imagining what Nvidia looks like without Jensen."

Huang was one of the longest-serving CEOs in U.S. corporate history, having co-founded Nvidia 33 years ago over coffee at a Denny's restaurant in San Jose, California. The company began by making specialized chips for 3D graphics and later pivoted aggressively into AI under Huang's leadership. When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, Nvidia was worth about $400 billion. Today it is valued at more than $4 trillion, among the most valuable companies in the world.

Huang was also the public face of Nvidia, known for his trademark leather jacket and keynote speeches. But analysts say he had a blind spot for succession planning. In a Bloomberg interview from mid-October, Huang was vague about his plans. "I'm really hoping that the next CEO of the company is already at the company, but 20 years from now, I hope I stay healthy and I hope I continue to earn my keep," he said. Both of his adult children, Spencer and Madison Huang, work at Nvidia.

Daniel Newman, CEO of the tech research firm the Futurum Group, said the company will inevitably be different without Huang. "They've always had Jensen as this sort of visionary at the front," he said. "I don't think that's replaceable."

Nvidia still plans to report its quarterly earnings on Tuesday.