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Jensen Huang now accused of affair with Nvidia executive who reported to him, alleged cover-up attempt
Huang was reportedly captured on video being affectionate with a direct report
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — already embroiled in a scandal for an extramarital relationship with a woman believed by U.S. intelligence to be spying on behalf of China — reportedly had a separate affair with one of his direct reports, according to the New York Times. Nvidia's board is now reportedly preparing to fire Huang.
The Times, citing five anonymous sources within Nvidia, says that Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, the company's vice president of health care. The sources claim that Huang and Powell were "captured on video being affectionate" in March at a hotel in San Jose, Calif., where the company's GTC conference takes place.
That report says that someone at the hotel filmed the moment on their smartphone, but that Huang's security team "sequestered" them and "made the person an offer to sign a nondisclosure agreement."
Powell joined Nvidia in 2008 and has been steadily promoted. The Times highlights that personal relationships are mentioned as potentially causing conflicts of interest in Nvidia's code of conduct. Like Huang, she is married to someone else.
In 2018, former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich resigned following a relationship with an employee, which was also against the company's policies. Nvidia has not responded to a request for comment from Tom's Hardware. This story will be updated if we hear back.Earlier this week, it came out that Jensen had an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, formerly a top executive at Singaporean firm Megaspeed and believed by U.S. intelligence to be a spy. Huang admitted to the affair in an email to Nvidia employees. China has denied claims of espionage.Nvidia's board has an ongoing investigation into that affair, led by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Huang is continuing to run the company while that investigation is ongoing. Law firms have been racing to sue the company on behalf of shareholders, including a proposed class-action lawsuit that Nvidia misled investors on material facts about the business.
The Congressional House committee on China has called on Huang for a closed-door session, with Republican lawmakers saying the reports "raise significant national security concerns."
Huang has been a leader of the AI industry, providing the most sought-after chips in the field. He has also had the ear of President Donald Trump, traveling with him and attempting to influence export controls.Trump told reporters that the FBI was investigating Huang, but also that the Nvidia CEO "had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy.”
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