Nvidia prepares to remove the CEO who built its AI empire as Jensen Huang scandal escalates

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Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang could be forced out of the company he helped build after 33 years, with directors reportedly preparing to decide whether he should remain in charge following allegations of two extramarital affairs.The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday that the board was looking into firing Jensen because of his connection with a woman who may be working for Chinese intelligence. The directors were set to meet as early as Wednesday to decide on his fate. But the story did not show that a vote had already been made or that Jensen had been fired.Such a potential transition could not have come at a worse time for Nvidia. There are questions about the ability to sustain the massive sums of money being put into artificial intelligence infrastructure.Jensen faces possible removal after reports of another affairThe story in The Wall Street Journal came on the heels of new allegations made in The New York Times about Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare.As Cryptopolitan reported, Jensen and Kimberly had a romantic relationship despite both being married to other people.The newspaper also reported that the pair were seen behaving affectionately at a hotel in San Jose, California, during March. Their interaction was reportedly recorded, although we have not viewed the footage.Kimberly has a very important position at Nvidia. She is in charge of its global health care operations, which encompass the computing hardware and software used in medical imaging, pharmaceutical research, biological sciences and health data analysis.This includes the responsibilities in industries that Nvidia hopes to serve through AI technology.The Nvidia stock price is down by 7% this week, on track to suffer from its sixth successive weekly drop.Meanwhile, investors have become more worried about the speed at which the world’s largest technology companies are burning cash on AI infrastructure and whether they can recoup those investments in future revenue.Political developments have been another complication. Last week’s U.S. midterm elections apparently gave Democrats commanding majorities in both chambers of Congress.Voters also passed dozens of local measures that could make building data centers more difficult, raising questions about expansion plans across the industry. This is important for Nvidia, whose processors run the computers that operate large AI models.These are the chips companies use to train ever more demanding software and run workloads once models are deployed.Jensen is so closely identified with the business that executives, customers and competitors refer to him by his first name. His potential exit would raise an immediate question of leadership at one of the largest suppliers bankrolling the world’s AI investment.Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.