Nvidia's board of directors met late on Wednesday, US time, to decide whether to remove Jensen Huang, the company's co-founder and chief executive, according to reports by the Wall Street Journal, CNBC and Reuters. The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the board was preparing to oust him. As of Thursday, no decision had been announced and the board had not commented publicly on the meeting.
How it began
On Sunday, Nvidia's board said it had launched "an independent investigation in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort."
The same day, Huang acknowledged in a note to employees a relationship with Alice Huang, a senior executive at the Singapore-based data-centre company Megaspeed, to whom he is not related. "I was unfaithful to my wife," he wrote, The Hindu reported, citing AFP. He said he supported the investigation and would cooperate fully.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a US intelligence memo circulated this spring alleged that Alice Huang was an asset of China's Ministry of State Security. She has not been charged, and her response has not been reported.
The second report
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported a second relationship, with a senior Nvidia executive, saying there was video of the two being affectionate at a conference in San Jose, California. Neither has commented publicly on that report.
Nvidia shareholders have also filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the company and Huang, alleging that the relationship should have been disclosed to investors.
Why it matters
Nvidia designs the graphics processors at the heart of the boom in artificial intelligence. Huang, 63, its co-founder, is one of the most prominent figures in the industry, and has appeared with President Donald Trump at White House events, most recently last month, when he accepted a National Medal of Science.
No successor has been named, ABC News reported, raising questions about who would lead the company if Huang leaves.
What next
Any decision is expected to come in a statement from the board. Separately, the Times reported that members of Congress have asked Huang for a closed-door briefing on his contacts with Alice Huang.