Jensen Huang's ouster triggers an AI earthquake

• At the center of that vast financial flywheel is Huang, who spent 33 years making himself synonymous with Nvidia — and Nvidia synonymous with the AI revolution.
• "This is no ordinary CEO. This is no ordinary company. This is no ordinary sector. This is no ordinary time," economist Mohamed El-Erian wrote on X, warning of contagion across the AI industry.

The latest: Huang resigned from all his positions at Nvidia, the company's board of directors said Thursday, following allegations of two affairs, including one with a woman accused of being a spy for China.

• The board named Nvidia's CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO.

Zoom in: As recently as two weeks ago, the notion of Nvidia without Jensen was unthinkable.

• Even after his affair with Alice Huang — the woman suspected of being a Chinese spy — came to light, President Trump and Nvidia's board stood behind him, Silicon Valley's elite rallied to his defense and betting markets suggested he would survive.
• It took revelations of a second affair — this time with an executive who reported directly to Jensen Huang — to shatter that consensus and bring his storied reign to the brink of a stunning end.

Driving the news: After that second affair came to light Wednesday night, Nvidia's board reportedly met to settle Huang's fate. The White House was read in.

• The market reaction has been brutal. Nvidia had already shed more than $1 trillion in market value since the initial scandal erupted, and shares plunged further in after-hours and pre-market trading overnight.
• One of Wall Street's most prominent voices on tech, analyst Dan Ives, said Nvidia was worth 25% less without Huang.

Zoom out: Huang's rise was the stuff of Silicon Valley legend: The Taiwanese immigrant went from cleaning toilets at a Kentucky boarding school and waiting tables at Denny's to building one of the most valuable companies in history.

• Huang and two fellow engineers hatched the idea for Nvidia at a Denny's booth in 1993, launching a chipmaker that would revolutionize gaming, transform modern computing and ultimately power the AI revolution.
• Clad in his trademark black leather jacket, Huang became a global AI rock star — with a cult of personality that drew adoring crowds, calmed markets and commanded the attention of world leaders.

The big picture: Huang's apparent downfall comes amid mounting anxiety over the AI industry's future, as new financial, political and regulatory risks threaten one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in history.

• The timing is especially fraught for Anthropic, whose historic IPO — backed by a $10 billion commitment from Nvidia — looms as a referendum on Wall Street's faith in the AI trade.
• Huang spent years defending the industry's soaring valuations and dismissing warnings of a speculative frenzy. Now his own scandals could help burst the bubble he insisted didn't exist.

What to watch: The blast radius could extend far beyond Silicon Valley and Wall Street, threatening to engulf the Trump administration in a scandal over its handling of sensitive technology exports to China.

• Huang forged a close alliance with Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who loosened restrictions on chip sales even as other officials raised concerns about Chinese espionage and smuggling.
• Top Senate Democrats are already demanding that Lutnick and other senior officials preserve records of their dealings with Nvidia and Huang, laying the groundwork for a sweeping investigation.

The bottom line: As veteran China watcher Bill Bishop wrote after Huang acknowledged his first affair: "There is rarely just one lie."

Editor's note: This story has been updated with news of Jensen Huang's resignation from Nvidia.