Nvidia at a crossroads as Jensen Huang steps down, putting AI’s trajectory in doubt

Nvidia’s longtime chief Jensen Huang resigned amid revelations of extramarital affairs and alleged national-security concerns tied to China, thrusting the world’s most valuable chipmaker into a high-stakes succession and governance test. The board named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO and Harvey Jones chairman as it probes Huang’s conduct, while investors confront the prospect of a leadership vacuum at the linchpin of the AI hardware supply chain. Nvidia’s shares have slid for weeks amid political headwinds, including stricter export controls and local pushback to data-center expansion, even as Wall Street still expects extraordinary revenue growth on surging demand for GPUs. Huang’s centralized control over chip allocation, deep ties with hyperscalers and “neoclouds,” and aggressive project financing helped cement Nvidia’s role as AI’s de facto central bank—raising questions about how swiftly those decisions can be institutionalized. The outcome will shape not only Nvidia’s pricing power and partner ecosystem but also the pace of global AI infrastructure spending.

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