Jen-Hsun Huang resigns: How this AI visionary stumbled upon his own wrong decisions

If I told you this time last week that Jen-Hsun Huang was leaving Nvidia, you wouldn’t believe it.

The man who co-founded the highly successful artificial intelligence chip company, worked hard from scratch, and led the company through multiple crises with energy and determination eventually left the company sadly due to his personal love life.

It's an extraordinary story, but one that feels remarkably old-school for a tech giant looking to the future.

The incident spawned a large number of memes on the Internet, with some comparing Huang to the man seen with his married colleague in the "kissing camera" at a Coldplay concert, while others paired it with George Michael's classic hit song "Careless Whisper" about betrayal.

Ironically, both memes are generated through artificial intelligence technology that he helped create.

I met with two Silicon Valley executives this week and asked them how they digested the news, and the answer was: "Look at the memes."

However, they did not seem to think that Huang would be forced to step down due to the extramarital affair rumors.

They pointed out that the interests involved in this matter are too huge. The entire artificial intelligence industry is highly dependent on Nvidia chips, and no one is willing to break this winning formula.

In other words, Silicon Valley was still on his side.

But that was before rumors of a second affair emerged, this time with a colleague at the company, and the board decided he had crossed a line.

His behavior immediately changed the outside world's perception of him: he became a person who made wrong decisions and tried to cover them up.

Long working hours and competitive spirit

Huang Renxun has always deliberately set himself apart.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, he live-streamed a keynote speech from his kitchen (which itself became an Internet sensation, but was later revealed to have been generated by artificial intelligence).

He rarely wears leather clothes when he makes public appearances - he once joked that he only has one suit and has to borrow a tie from his daughter's partner.

Huang Jen-Hsun has close contacts with political and business celebrities, and his connections include Trump, Musk and British King Charles.

The last time I saw him was last year at St James' Palace, where he was receiving the prestigious Queen's Prize for Engineering.

I was originally told that he would not be interviewed by the media, but he came over alone and we chatted for about 10 minutes. The press officer beside him looked quite nervous. He spoke clearly at the time and was optimistic about the development of artificial intelligence and the UK's role in it.

To many, Huang is the personification of Nvidia, with as many as 200 people reporting directly to him.

He demanded extremely high work standards - in "The Nvidia Way," a book about the company's inner workings, author Tae Kim wrote that the company's working hours were extremely long.

Huang's feedback is often harsh and open, and he has no problem pointing out the mistakes of individual employees in all-hands meetings.

Now, his own shortcomings are exposed in public, and his career is forced to come to a cruel end.

Nvidia loses Jensen Huang

Colette Kress, who is currently filling in, is a familiar face within the company, which is undoubtedly a reassurance for some Nvidia employees.

She has been with the company for 13 years and is no stranger to those concerned about Nvidia's massive financial health, having frequently attended earnings calls. She is also a billionaire herself and a well-established high-level technology executive.

But she does not have an engineering background, and Nvidia's products have a high technical threshold.

She must prove to investors that Nvidia is operating as normal, that the pace of innovation for which the company is famous will not slow down, and that top talent will not leave with Huang.

Once Nvidia is in turmoil, it will be a heavy blow to the entire artificial intelligence industry, because it constantly introduces new chips that support the most powerful artificial intelligence models. At the same time, the company is also regarded as a kind of "central bank" that provides funds and loans to other companies.

As for Jen-Hsun Huang himself, it is currently speculated that the investigation into his relationship with the woman accused of being a Chinese spy will continue, and the results of the investigation are likely to determine his next move.

Despite this incident, he's probably still getting offers - I expect Nvidia's competitors can't believe how lucky they are that such a strong opponent has withdrawn from the game. Elon Musk has publicly stated that it would be a "great honor" to work with him at SpaceX.