News of Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged asset of China’s Ministry of State Security was first met with a muted response in Silicon Valley—including inside Nvidia itself. Huang’s resignation, after news of two other alleged romantic relationships with Nvidia staffers, has left both the company and the broader AI industry stunned.
As revelations about Huang’s initial affair came out earlier this week, rank-and-file Nvidia employees at first pursued business as usual, according to two current and three former employees at the chipmaker, speaking anonymously to protect relationships at the company. They trusted the board to investigate and act accordingly, but few workers thought Huang would actually leave.
