Suspicion of spying leads to discussion of CEO's dismissal; dark clouds over ``AI strongest'' - US Nvidia

[Silicon Valley Current Affairs] Suspicions of spying by the Chinese government against US semiconductor giant Nvidia's CEO Huang have escalated into an uproar in which the dismissal of the man, who has become a figurehead in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), is being debated. Dark clouds hang over the future of Nvidia, which has been hailed as ``one of the most valuable companies in the world'' (US media) and has built a stronghold on AI semiconductors.

Mr. Huang, who was born in Taiwan, moved to the United States when he was a child. After studying at Stanford University in the US, he worked for another semiconductor company and co-founded NVIDIA in 1993. The company expanded its market share in image processing semiconductors (GPUs) for games.

GPUs are good at processing large amounts of data in parallel. This characteristic matched AI, which handles large amounts of data for learning, and NVIDIA allocated management resources to it. Currently, approximately 90% of the company's sales come from semiconductors for AI.

In November 2022, U.S. Open AI announced the conversational AI "Chat GPT," and with the advent of the full-fledged AI era, NVIDIA's growth accelerated rapidly. Stock prices have increased more than ten times, and in October 2025, the market capitalization exceeded $5 trillion (approximately 800 trillion yen) for the first time in the world.

Mr. Huang also has a close relationship with US President Donald Trump, and often accompanies him on overseas trips. Access to the company's GPUs is the key to developing cutting-edge AI, and he is often seen in the media wearing his trademark leather jacket, and has been hailed as ``one of the most powerful figures in the AI ​​revolution'' (New York Times).

Therefore, if the suspicion that information about the company and the US government was leaked to the Chinese government through female agents is true, the situation would be serious. The Chinese government denies the allegations, but pressure is mounting, with the U.S. Congress stepping up its pursuit.

If he is dismissed, choosing a successor will not be easy. Nvidia's achievements are largely due to the skill of Mr. Huang, who negotiated with governments around the world and built one of the world's leading companies in a single generation.

From the time the NYT reported the allegations on the 29th of last month until the 11th, the company's stock price fell by more than 20%. Competition is becoming tougher as customer companies such as Google and Open AI are increasingly introducing and selling AI semiconductors designed in-house. If the turmoil caused by the top management scandal continues, NVIDIA's dominance in the AI ​​semiconductor market could come undone.