Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of Nvidia with immediate effect on Thursday, the chipmaker announced, naming finance chief Colette Kress as interim head. The move landed after Nvidia had already surrendered roughly $300 billion in market value in the run-up to the decision.

The 61-year-old turned Nvidia from a graphics card maker into the world's largest chip company and, for a time, the most valuable listed company on the stock exchange, last valued at around four trillion dollars. He co-founded the business in 1993 and ran it from the start, one of the longest-serving CEOs in Silicon Valley. Colleagues knew him as "Mr. Nvidia", a nickname he sustained with a black leather jacket worn at every public appearance and a rock-star reception in his native Taiwan.

The irony is not lost on anyone tracking AI hardware. Huang built Nvidia into the most important manufacturer in AI computing and piloted the company through the AI boom. His exit lands exactly where the company's pricing power runs strongest.

Why did Huang step down?

Two extramarital affairs did the damage, and both made headlines within days of each other.

• The first, with a woman named Alice Huang — the shared surname is a coincidence — surfaced on Sunday. Authorities treat her as a suspected Chinese spy.
• The second involved a vice president who reported directly to Huang. It surfaced on Thursday and became the last straw.

Correspondent investigations into the first affair have already begun. The central question for US authorities: whether the Chinese woman, linked to the government in Beijing, had access to state-of-the-art AI chips that Washington bans from export to China.

The two cases carry different risks. The affair with the suspected spy touches export controls and the possibility of unlawful shipments; the affair with a direct report touches governance. Either alone would have made headlines. Together they closed a 30-year tenure.

What does the resignation mean for Nvidia's AI business?

Nvidia dominates the market for AI accelerators, the special chips that train models such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. That position places the company at the centre of the technological competition between the US and China.

Since 2022, Washington has used export controls to slow China's access to these technologies, with the technological and military rise of the People's Republic in mind. Huang also has a short connection to US President Donald Trump.

Investors have already priced the risk. Ahead of Thursday's decision, Nvidia shares had lost about $300 billion. Peers followed: Intel and Micron fell more than five percent in some cases. The wider fear is not one executive but the leadership crisis at the centre of the global AI supply chain.

For practitioners, the arithmetic is simple. Nvidia's accelerator supply plays the role an engine supplier plays for a carmaker: one source, few substitutes, and prices every competitor must absorb. Compute buyers now have to factor one more variable into their plans: who signs the export-compliance decisions that gate shipments to China.

Where does Huang go next?

He may not have to look far. Tesla chief Elon Musk offered Huang a new position on platform X, replying to a post asking him to hire Huang that it would be "an honor". The two already do business: Tesla buys Nvidia chips and uses them to train AI models for autonomous driving and robotics.

What stays unresolved?

Kress, the head of finance, takes over for now, and the announcement named no permanent successor. Her immediate task is narrow: hold the roadmap steady while a permanent chief executive is named.

The export inquiry reaches into the product line that has defined Nvidia's value, which makes Thursday's announcement a supply-chain question as much as a personnel one. Two items to watch: whether investigators extend their questions beyond one executive, and how long the interim arrangement lasts.