00:00NVIDIA's CEO had to resign because of an affair with an alleged spy.
00:04The scandal is monumental because it involves one of the most valuable companies on the planet.
00:08And the case mixes artificial intelligence chips with alleged links to China.
00:12To understand what's going on, let's tell you who's who.
00:14Jensen Huang, the founder.
00:17He was born in Taiwan 63 years ago and co-founded NVIDIA in 1993.
00:21He is the only CEO the company has ever had, and he built the company around his own figure.
00:26including his leather jacket, which became his trademark.
00:28Under his leadership, NVIDIA's stock has soared by more than 700,000% since 1999.
00:33and the company has reached a value of more than 5 trillion dollars.
00:38Huang resigned after admitting on Sunday that he had had an extramarital affair.
00:42The board of directors announced an investigation.
00:45After this, another alleged relationship came to light, but this time with a subordinate.
00:50Alice Huang, the businesswoman and alleged spy.
00:53Also known as Wang Li, she is a former television presenter and founded Megaspeed International in 2023.
00:59Megaspeed became the largest buyer of NVIDIA chips in Southeast Asia.
01:03According to trade records, its imports of NVIDIA products exceeded $4.6 billion.
01:09Several reports identify her as an alleged spy recruited by Beijing.
01:12According to The New York Times, several US security agencies have identified her as an intelligence agent.
01:17China.
01:18Washington is investigating whether Megaspeed was involved in chip trafficking to China.
01:21And Bloomberg found that the company had imported 50,000 more chips than NVIDIA had on record.
01:27Kimberly Powell, the executive, is 48 years old and is Vice President of Healthcare Affairs at NVIDIA.
01:33She is the public face of the company in its efforts to bring its chips to higher education and to
01:37healthcare.
01:38According to The New York Times, there are also videos of Huang with her in a loving manner.
01:43It would be a second relationship, and of a different nature.
01:45This is not a link with China, but a relationship with a subordinate.
01:49Colette Kress replaced her.
01:50She is the finance director and was appointed interim CEO.
01:53He has been with NVIDIA for 13 years and previously worked at Microsoft and Cisco.
01:57His background is in finance.
01:58His public role has been limited to presenting the company's figures.
02:01And the challenge is enormous.
02:03NVIDIA did not have a clear succession plan until now.
02:06What's at stake.
02:07NVIDIA produces about 90% of the standalone GPUs sold worldwide.
02:11The processors that power artificial intelligence.
02:14And Huang used the company's strength to support dozens of players in the sector.
02:18Like OpenAI, Anthropic, and CoreWeb.
02:21That's why its departure has repercussions beyond NVIDIA.
02:23The stock fell by as much as 10% in pre-market trading.
02:26And it dipped a bit during the normal market session.
02:29One investor sums it up like this.
02:31Never before has there been a single figure who holds such a large share of an industry.
02:34And that is the question that remains open.
02:36What happens to artificial intelligence when the person who supported it leaves?
