Affecting the lifeblood of global AI, Huang Renxun’s extramarital affair investigation highlights the succession crisis

On the streets of Taipei and Seoul, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang is always surrounded by fans, clamoring to get him to autograph books, posters, and sometimes even their bodies.

Privately, even billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have laid down their bodies and "begged" to get his hands on the hot artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Reuters reported that the 63-year-old Huang Renxun’s star charm as the gatekeeper of Huida chips highlights the AI ​​industry’s high dependence on him. Whether training models or running services like ChatGPT, they all rely on Huida's graphics processing unit (GPU).

But Huang is more than just a chip supplier. In recent years, Huida has transformed its increasingly huge cash flow into strategic funds, and its investment areas include various enterprises from AI cloud computing service providers and suppliers to major top laboratories.

Analysts pointed out that this makes Huang a potential risk to the AI ​​industry. Huida is investigating whether Huang was targeted by foreign intelligence agencies after he admitted to having an extramarital affair with a Chinese businesswoman suspected of passing information to Beijing.

"It's hard not to interpret the news that came out over the weekend as negative, as it plunges the leadership of one of the nation's most important companies and the driving force behind America's AI trajectory into controversy," said Stacy Rasgon, an analyst at research firm Bernstein.

He said: "Huida is not an ordinary company, and Huang Renxun is not an ordinary CEO. He is Huida, who clearly leads the company's long-term strategy and direction, and controls most of the company's operations."

Huang Renxun’s influence is evident. Last year, he held a fried chicken and beer party in Seoul with the CEOs of Samsung and Hyundai Motor, which caused the stock prices of two Korean food companies to soar; and he named Marvell Technology, a customized chip factory, as the next "company with a market value of over US$1 trillion," which directly pushed the company's stock price to a record high.

As an important representative of the refutation of AI skeptics, Huang has often refuted outside concerns about the AI ​​bubble. He also refuted the doomsday warnings of Dario Amodei, CEO of AI startup Anthropic, that AI may pose a threat to human existence.

If Huang encounters any setback, the AI ​​industry may lose one of its most staunch voices and defenders. Huang has often argued that AI will revolutionize fields ranging from computing and manufacturing to health care and robotics.

Analysts have said that Huang Renxun has been CEO of chip design company Huida since he co-founded it in 1993, and the company currently has no clear successor. Huida said over the weekend that Huang received support from the board of directors, but the company did not announce a succession plan.

Dan Ives, a long-term investor in the technology industry and a partner and senior managing director of Yorkville Ives & Co., said: "Jensen Huang is irreplaceable... There is no one else on the management team who can seamlessly take over the role of CEO."

In addition to Huang Renxun, the leadership team page of Huida’s official website also lists four senior executives. The most well-known among them is Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who often represents the company at investor meetings.

The other three people are Nick Parker, executive vice president of global business operations, Debora Shoquist, executive vice president of operations, and Tim Teter, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. (Compiled by: Chen Yuting)